


Lost Eyes

by yuto_da



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Dark, In a way, M/M, Natsume suffers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, but not too slow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2018-09-20 05:38:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 39,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9478016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuto_da/pseuds/yuto_da
Summary: Natsume was walking back home and decided to take the longer route back home only to regret it when he ended up losing something he didn't know he treasured till it was gone.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wow! It's been a month since i last posted anything on AO3 and for that, i apologize to the people waiting for my new works.
> 
> Well, it's my first story of Natsume Yuujinchou but i really enjoy watching this show and seeing Natsume grow, having friends who care about him all around and that was what prompted me to write this. It's the first chapter in a series of possibly many but i've only done the first chapter and a bit of the second, so your comment, kudos etc are greatly appreciated.

Natsume was walking back home after a tiring day at school. He decided to use the longer route home instead of the route he usually used, Nyanko-sensei was most likely sleeping in the house and Natsume wanted to enjoy the fresh air and the longer lush green route.

He smiled, seeing two small furry animals chase each other, weaving through the trees and running far from his sight. He was too absorbed in looking at the two animals that he didn’t sense the presence creeping up behind him till it was too late.

“Natsume....Reiko...” The thing whispered in his ear, making him yelp in surprise and jump back to get a clear view of what was behind him.

“I’m not Reiko!” Natsume looked at the beast, it was black and large with multiple eyes covering majority of its body minus a large space where its mouth was. It oozed black goo onto the ground when it opened its mouth; the black goo killed all the plants when it touched them turning the lush green grash to dry and dead.

“No...You are Natsume Reiko,” The thing moved closer to Natsume and pinned the male down to the ground with its hand, saying, “Give me the Book of Friends!”

Natsume winced at the pressure on his chest, trying to push on the hand and saying, “No! I’m not Reiko! I’m her grandson, Natsume Takashi!”

“Give me the Book of Friends! It’s mine!” The thing stretched its other hand towards Natsume face, howling in pain and retracting its hand when the human boy bit down on it.

Natsume managed to wriggle free from the Yokai’s grip, standing up and running down the path, turning to look behind him to see if the black Yokai was following him to find it right behind him, it’s multiple eyes staring directly at him while it’s mouth was opened, the black goo falling directly behind Natsume’s feet.

“I won’t give the Book of Friends to you!” Natsume turned back to face the front, cursing when he failed to notice the tree branch and tripped over it, falling face first to the ground, the worn out green notepad in his bag falling out to the ground not too far from where he fell.

“Crap!” Natsume cursed, crawling towards the Book of Friends and picking it up quickly, hiding it behind his back, he turned to face the Yokai.

“If you won’t give me the Book, I’ll curse you for eternity!” The Yokai growled threatingly at Natsume, “The eyes covering my body are the ones I took from other Yokai’s and some humans, if you don’t give me the Book of Friends, I’ll take your eyes as well!”

Natsume’s grip on the Yuujinchou tightened, he couldn’t hand over something as important and precious as the Yuujinchou to an evil Yokai, the thought of all those innocent Yokai’s being forced to do evil deeds against their will made his skin crawl in disgust. “I definitely won’t give something this important to you!”

“Fine, you brought this upon yourself.” The Yokai laughed, the sound was enough to make goosebumps appear on Natsume’s skin. The Yokai’s Black Hand stretched towards Natsume’s eyes, and it laughed once more before saying, “Give me the Book of Friends and I’ll return your eyes,” Before disappearing into thin air leaving Natsume alone.

Natsume didn’t remember how he made it back home and all the way up to his room, falling down on the ground as soon as the door closed behind him, the sound of Nyanko-sensei calling out his name being the last thing he heard before he fainted.

Natsume opened his eyes and found Nyanko-sensei yellow eyes staring down at him and Touko-san sitting beside him watching with worried eyed and her hand over her mouth. She removed her hand and said his name, bending down to look at the pale haired boy.

Natsume squeezed his eyes shut before opening them and trying to sit up straight only to be stopped by Touko’s hand on his shoulder, gently urging him to lie back down on the futon he didn’t realize was underneath him.

“You need to rest, Takashi-kun. You were burning up with a fever when Nyan-san came to get me,” Touko turned to look at the cat, smiling and petting the white furball on the head, whispering something to it that made the cat’s eyes light up and drool form on the corner of his mouth making Touko chuckle at the sight.

Natsume felt disappointed in himself; he had never wanted to cause the kind family that took him in any trouble but that was all he kept on doing. “I’m sorry for causing you trouble again.” He said, looking at the small stains made by the white furball currently purring at his feet.

“What are you saying? You have never caused I or Shigeru-san any trouble,” Touko frowned at Natsume’s words. She always felt sad that a boy of his age was thinking about not being a bother to anyone rather than focusing on enjoying his teenage years.

“Stop thinking like that, Takashi-kun. You will never be a bother to me or Shigeru-san,” Touko said while patting Natsume on the hand gently, the act affecting the young male more than she knew. “Now rest up, I’ll bring you some rice porridge later, okay?” Touko bent down and placed a kiss on Natsume’s forehead before standing up and exiting the room, heading downstairs to begin preparing dinner missing the way Natsume’s hand rose and brushed over the spot she had kissed.

Silence fell on Natsume and Nyanko-sensei for a moment and was broken by the fat pig - like creature asking the young male, its sharp yellow eyes looking directly into Natsume’s.  “What happened, Natsume? I smelt a strong Ayakashi on you when you came in.”

“A Yokai attacked me in the forest on my way home; I managed to escape it and ran all the way home.” Natsume said, his mind flashing back to when he met that evil Yokai and remembering the words it said before he fled the beast.

 ‘Return my eyes? What was that Yokai saying? My eyes are perfectly fine.’ As if to prove his point, Natsume blinked twice and reached his hand to his face, rubbing at his eyes before shrugging his shoulders thinking the Yokai was simply trying to frighten him into giving it the Book of Friends but he couldn’t shake off the feeling of unease he felt in his stomach.

“Hmm...Weĺl, so long as you didn’t give it the Book of Friends, it’s okay,” The cat’s mouth lifted up in a wide grin and drool dripping from its mouth as it continued to say, “I can’t wait for Touko special meal being made for me being a good cat and calling her when you collapsed,” Nyanko-sensei said, his yellow eyes budging out of his head and yelping in surprise when Natsume threw a book at him and it hit directly in his side.

“Is that all you care about, food and drinking? No wonder your gaining weight.” Natsume laid his head on the pillow and dozed off, ignoring the loud complaints of Nyanko-sensei in the background.

Natsume woke up to incessant prodding on his face, opening his eyes to find large yellow eyes staring at his pale yellow ones. He screamed in surprise and moved back instinctively, the futon curled around his legs made it hard for him to move as far back as he originally intended to.

“It’s dinner time, let’s go eat!” Nyanko-sensei said, his short white tail swinging back and forth in excitement, prancing on short legs out of the room and down to the kitchen.

Natsume sighed before following suit, apologising to Touko-san and Shigeru-san for being late to dinner and seating down, finishing his dinner faster than usual, Natsume excused himself from the table, saying his head ached and he was going up to his room to rest a bit, smiling reassuringly at Touko-san and Shigeru-san’s worried faces. He sighed and leaned back on the door, leaning his head back and let it rest on the paper covering the door, his mind flashed back to the Yokai’s words, he felt there was something off with him but he couldn’t figure out what it was and that bothered him greatly.

Natsume ended up sleeping through the night till the following morning and got woken up by Nyanko-sensei’s jumping onto his stomach. He puffed out all the air in his lungs before raising his hand and smacking the cat’s head and ignoring the scream of pain it released. Natsume got out of bed and began preparing for school, descending the stairs with Nyanko-sensei beside his feet. He walked into the dining room and found Shigeru-san reading the newspaper and Touko-san removing the dishes for breakfast. He greeted them and sat down, thanking Touko-san for the food before digging in.

Natsume excused himself from the table, saying a quick thank you and goodbye to Touko-san and Shigeru-san before exiting the house, the feeling of unease still within him. He walked to school in silence, his mind miles away trying to figure out the demon’s words from the day before. His thoughts were interrupted when he collided face first into something warm and hard.

His arms were quickly grabbed by the person he bumped into, stabilizing him; Natsume looked at the owner of the hands around his arms and saw Tanuma looking at him with a worried expression of his face.

“Are you okay?” Tanuma let go of Natsume with a slight blush on his cheeks, his hand going to his bag and shifting it to a more comfortable position.

“Yeah…sorry, just a little spaced out.” Natsume attempted to smile and reassure Tanuma that he was alright but it didn’t work. Tanuma saw right through him.

Tanuma looked around at their surroundings and took Natsume’s arm, walking hurriedly to a more secluded area that no one would overhear their conversation. Letting go of Natsume’s hand, Tanuma asked in a hushed tone, “Is it…something involving the Yokai’s?”

Natsume frowned at that, he didn’t want Tanuma to worry but he also didn’t want to put the dark-haired male in danger. Smiling weakly, he replied to the dark-haired male, “No… I just spaced out, that’s all.”

Tanuma frowned, over the time he had spent with and gotten to know the lightly-coloured male he had learned to know when he was lying, he had picked up on how Natsume failed to meet the eyes of the person he was lying to and tended to fiddle with the material of his clothes, kind of like a child lying to his parents. The blonde-haired male was currently failing to meet his eyes and his hand was fondling the material of his sweater.

Tanuma  inwardly sighed, he was hurt that Natsume didn’t trust him enough to share his problems with Yokai’s or anything but knew the male would not tell anyone what was bothering him in fear of bothering them or placing them in danger. “Oh… I see.” The two stood there in awkward silence till the school bell rang signalling class had started. They separated with Tanuma heading to his class telling the blonde male to watch where he was going and that he’ll see him later and Natsume nodding his head and walking to his class, ignoring the pang of guilt he felt for lying to the dark-haired male, thinking to himself that it was for Tanuma’s safety, he couldn’t get anyone involved in the dangerous world of Yokai’s.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I rushed a bit to write the new chaptr thanks to a certain lovely comment that made my day, so @Shadownightes, this is for you, i wish it was better though, enough of my rambling and enjoy the story, don't forget to comment and tell me if i did well on this chapter, bye!!

The classes that day passed rather quickly and before Natsume knew it, it was lunch time. He was pulled out of his thoughts by Nishimura stopping by his desk with Kitamoto, the two looking at the blonde with worried looks on their faces.

“Natsume…Natsume!”

Natsume jolted in his seat before blinking twice and turning to face the two males, surprise clear on his face. “Ah…Nishimura, Kitamoto, you scared me.”

Nishimura frowned, “We’ve been calling you for a while now… Are you okay?”

Kitamoto nodded his head, agreeing with Nishimura and asked the blonde, “You don’t look too good. Your face is really pale.”

Natsume laughed shakily, shaking his head in denial, he stood up and smiled at the two, trying to reassure them that he was doing okay. “I didn’t sleep too well last night, that’s all.”

Nishimura’s eyes shined deviously at that. He moved to Natsume’s side and began nudging him with his elbow, a wide lecherous grin on his lip, he said in a hushed tone so the few students left in the classroom wouldn’t hear him.  “Oho? Is that because you were reading naughty things at night and couldn’t get any sleep?”

Natsume and Kitamoto simultaneously rolled their eyes, the latter whacking the brown haired male over the head and ignoring his yelp of pain. “You’re the one who’d be doing such things,” Turning to Natsume, he said, “Come on, let’s go get something to eat before the cafeteria closes.”

Natsume nodded his head and followed the dark haired male out of the classroom, laughing when Nishimura began whining at being left alone. The trio went to the cafeteria and bought their lunches and began heading back to the classroom to eat them when they met up with Tanuma and some of his classmates. Tanuma turned to his classmates and told them to go on ahead before walking over to Natsume, Kitamoto and Nishimura.

“Hey Tanuma,” Kitamoto greeted, rolling his eyes good-naturedly at the weird way Nishimura greeted the dark haired male.

Kitamoto grabbed Nishimura by the back of his shirt and began dragging him away, ignoring the protests from the brown haired male, he waved goodbye to the two and told Natsume to head over to the infirmary if he began feeling unwell. The two watched Nishimura get taken away by Kitamoto, muffling their laughter with their hands when Nishimura blushed furiously as Taki and some of her friends passed them.

“You’re feeling better?” Tanuma suddenly asked Natsume, glancing at the blonde and noticing something out of the ordinary. There was a blurry figure hiding in one of the classrooms not too far away from them, he could see something that he thought was a head peeking out of the class and moving its head back and forth, as though it was looking around.

Tanuma stared at the blurry figure for a little longer, his attention going back to the blonde by his side and asking him, “Natsume, can you see it?”

 “Huh? See what?” Natsume looked around them and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Tanuma was confused. He turned back to look at the classroom and saw the thing was still there with its head still moving back and forth.  “There,” He lifted his hand and pointed at the classroom, lowering his voice so no passer-by would hear him, “That thing over there, it’s a Yokai, right?”

Natsume looked at the classroom that Tanuma had pointed to intently, a feeling of dread slowly beginning to settle in his stomach. He looked at Tanuma with fear in his eyes, “Tanuma, I can’t see it.”

Everything clicked in place with those words. What the Yokai meant by taking away his eyes. He had thought that it had meant, literally his two eyes, but he was mistaken. The Yokai hadn’t taken away his eyesight; he had taken away his ability to see Yokai’s. A part of him thought he should be happy and rejoice, he could no longer see the things that caused him so much pain and suffering throughout his years of life but he wasn’t happy, not even in the slightest.

“What do you mean you can’t see it?” Tanuma eyes had widened to comical proportions, confusion, fear and worry clear in the blue orbs.

“Is it still there? The Yokai, is it still in the classroom?” Natsume didn’t want to believe that it was true, that his ability to see otherworld things was gone. He thought that maybe it was a trick of the light that made something appear on the classroom door that only Tanuma could see. But even to him, it sounded an awful lot like a lie.

Tanuma looked at the classroom and could still see the figure there, only instead of the thing moving its head back and forth searching for something, it was facing them.  He nodded his head in affirmation, “Yeah but, instead of looking around the place, it’s looking directly at us.”

“That’s bad! We have to go!” Even though he couldn’t see the demon, he knew from experience that once a Yokai knows you can see it, you had only one option left to run as fast as possible before the demon catches you and they did.

The two ran as fast as they could, running down the hallway and yelling an apology over their shoulder at the teacher they bumped into. They ran down the stairs and through the entryway of the school to the field outside. Tanuma looked around trying to find any sign of the Yokai but came up empty; he managed to say through his heavy pants for air, “I think it’s gone, I don’t see it anywhere.”

“That’s good,” Natsume replied before sitting down on the grassy ground, the realization that his ability was gone fully sinking in at that moment. Tanuma was at a loss for words, he had never expected him to be the one –out of the two of them- that could vaguely see Yokai’s but in a twisted way, a part of him was glad that now he could be helpful to Natsume and wouldn’t be a bother anymore. He sat down beside the blonde and kept silent, not only because he didn’t know what to say but he had no clue on how to comfort someone when they lost something that has been with them since birth.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY!! I didn't mean to not post for two weeks, i am reallly sorry, i know this chapter is shit but the story picks up in the next chapter so please bear with this for now...
> 
>  
> 
> I, have something to ask from any kind soul that will be reading my stories, as you can probably tell, they are not beta-d and i wanted to ask anyone skilled in the beta-ing department to please, lend me a hand and beta my stories, i would like them to be better for all that will read it... you can find me on tumblr at 'colewritesstuff' or just send me a message here, any works, anyway, enough of that long ramble, on to the chapter!!!

The two eventually got up and went back into the school building –albeit warily- and separated with a promise of seeing each other later. Tanuma spent most of his time in class thinking on how to help Natsume and deciding to stick by his side when he can in case of an attack from a Yokai. He was worried that news of Natsume’s power being stolen would spread throughout the spirit world and that could have Yokai’s racing over to the blonde’s house and that could end up with Natsume and his family in serious danger. Tanuma did not want that.

Seeing the blonde about to leave after switching his shoes, Tanuma tried calling out to him but Natsume didn’t seem to hear him, his head bowed low and his light hair covering his face making it impossible for Tanuma to see his expression. Tanuma knew that Natsume was putting a lot of blame on himself –as he usually did- and he hated that. But no matter what he said or did, Tanuma also knew, Natsume would never stop blaming himself for things he couldn’t help.

“Natsume, wait up!” Tanuma called out once more. This time, he caught the attention of the pale blonde and his head rose, turning to look for the person that called him out and stopping when his eyes landed on Tanuma, the dark-haired jogging over to him and falling in step beside him. Natsume would never stop blaming himself for things he couldn’t control but, Tanuma vowed at that moment that he’d at least be there for the blonde, vowing to make sure the blonde was never alone or lonely again.

Natsume was distracted by the stories Tanuma was telling him that he didn’t realize that they had already arrived at the Fujiwara household, till Tanuma stopped walking and lifted his hand up in a wave, his gaze looking at something over Natsume’s shoulder. At first, Natsume was confused by the wave, thinking it was the dark-haired male bidding him goodbye till he heard a familiar old voice not too far from where they were. “Ara, Takashi-kun, you brought Tanuma-kun over?”

Turning to face Touko-san, Natsume shook his head and said, “No, no, Touko-san, Tanuma was just walking me home” at the same time, Tanuma behind him nodded his head and answered, “Yes, Fujiwara-san, we were supposed to study together.”

Touko-san looked between the two boys with her eyebrow raised before letting out a soft laugh, her hand rising to cover her mouth as she laughed. She beckoned the two inside with her hand, her laughter reducing to a giggle and said to the two boys, “Welcome back, Takashi -kun, and Tanuma -kun.” The two males also let out a small laugh, walking into the house behind the elderly woman and saying simultaneously, “We’re back, Touko-san.”

 

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After politely declining the offer of tea and snacks from Touko-san, Natsume and Tanuma excused themselves and went up to the former’s bedroom to find Nyanko-sensei asleep on the ground with his belly facing the ceiling. Natsume rolled his eyes at the sleeping cat while Tanuma exclaimed, “Ponta!” and proceeded to rub the cat’s stomach, chuckling when Nyanko-sensei began purring contentedly in his sleep. After a few more rubs on its belly, the fat cat opened one eye sleepily and looked around, his slit eyes looking at Tanuma who was absentmindedly rubbing his belly and then to Natsume resting with his back to the wall and a book in his hands. Madara could tell something was off with Natsume, more so than usual. He opened both his eyes and flipped around, startling Tanuma into a yelp that made Natsume raise his head and look at the two.

“Natsume, what’s wrong with you? You look more depressed than usual.” Madara questioned, his large white head cocking to the side curiously.

Natsume kept silent, not sure on how to break it to the powerful Yokai that he could no longer see Yokai’s due to his own foolish impulses. Tanuma jumped in at that moment, “He’s just feeling a little sick…”

Madara huffed, “I told you, you’re too weak, look at those thin arms. You have to eat more meat or you’ll never grow strong,”

“If I eat as much meat as you do, I’d become just as fat,” Natsume replied, his attention going back to the book in his hands, ignoring the pang of guilt in his chest for lying to the fat cat.

“What! Are you calling me fat?!” Madara yelled his face contorted in rage with one fat paw stomping on the floor.

“Yes,” Natsume continued to say, “The other day when we went for a walk, we barely reached the front door and you were already panting heavily.”

“That was…”

“Was what, sensei?” Natsume pressed. A small smile on his lips as he lifted his eyes back up to watch the multi-colored cat tries to find an excuse for his not-so-sudden increase in weight.

Tanuma watched the scene before him and laughed, saying, “You two really are close,” and laughing even harder when the two simultaneously denied his statement before turning to glare at each other, imaginary lighting sparks sparking between them.

                                                                           

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Natsume saw Tanuma off, waving goodbye to the dark-haired male before turning around and walking back to the Fujiwara household and going up to his room to rest for a while before getting called down for dinner by Touko-san. He let his eyes flutter shut and was about to fall asleep when Madara opened his mouth and asked the blonde the question that had been bothering him since Natsume came back from school.

“Natsume, what happened to you? You smell… different.”

‘ _He’d end up finding out eventually,’_ Natsume thought, opening his eyes and looking directly into his sensei’s slit eyes, he decided to tell him the truth. “I can’t see Yokai,”

Madara thought the human boy was joking and rolled his eyes, “What kind of joke is that? Of course you can see Yokai, you’ve been able to since you were old enough to open your eyes.”

Natsume shook his head, “No, Nyanko-sensei, I can’t see them anymore,” Looking away from the fat cat and fixating on a certain spot on his wall, Natsume explained what happened on that day, what the Yokai had said to him, how he failed to see the Yokai in his school, everything. He continued to stare at that spot, only looking back at Madara when his entire room was covered by a cloud of white smoke that disappeared quickly and where Madara’s cat form was stood nothing.

“You can’t see me?” Madara asked. He had transformed to his true state and was looking down at Natsume, the blonde shook his head in denial and said, “I can’t see you but it looks like I can hear you.”

Madara transformed back into his other state, the white smoke appearing once more and quickly disappearing. “Chances are the Yokai that took away your sight is probably stronger than most Yokai’s so it’ll be troublesome to get your sight back.”

“How will we get my sight back? It wanted the Book of Friends in exchange for my, as it said, eyes.” Natsume questioned. The idea of giving the Book of Friends to a Yokai that obviously wanted it for its own gain made him sick.

“I don’t know yet. I have to see the Yokai to know. It’s definitely weaker than me and getting rid of it will be easy but making it disappear won’t necessarily return your ‘eyes’. Madara replied. “For starters, you’ll have to take me with you to school tomorrow.”

“Why? If it’s for protection, I can handle myself.” Natsume stubbornly said, knowing that his words were true but, how could a human boy who can no longer see Yokai defend himself from them?

Madara scoffed, managing to look disapproving even in the form he was in, “You can’t, well, not right now.” Madara’s mind flashed back to Tanuma and his disapproving look increased, “Don’t tell me that shrine-boy is going to protect you? What can he do? He can barely sense us, let alone see us.”

“Don’t talk about Tanuma that way.” Natsume said, not liking the tone that Madara had when talking about Tanuma. He glared at the cat, daring him to continue talking badly about the dark-haired male.

Madara sighed, “You’ll have to take me with you to school tomorrow so that, we can go to where you first met that Yokai." "The sooner we deal with this issue, the sooner you'll get back your sight."

Natsume kept silent for a while before asking Madara a question, "Why are you helping me?" At Madara's confused look, he explained what he meant, "I mean, you know where I keep the Book of Friends, it should be easy for you to take it and leave with it. After all, it's not like I'd be able to find you."

Madara was furious at that, "I'm helping you because there's no fun in taking the Book of Friends when you can't even fight for it, besides, I said I'll protect you till I can eat you and I'd rather you be able to see me take the Book of Friends than I take it from a helpless boy that can't protect himself for my attacks, let alone see them."

Natsume was oddly pleased with Madara's answer. Even though he had a clear chance of taking the one thing that kept him there, he chose to stay and help him instead of leaving him alone. "Thank you, Nyanko-sensei," Natsume whispered, not intending for the cat to hear him but Madara did and huffed and turned away from the blonde, deciding to close his eyes and sleep before dinner.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The update is very late and i apologize but here is chapter four.   
> I'd like to thank all the people who are still reading this story, it helps very much when i see someone has commented and for that, i thank you all once more. Here's the chapter that i spent two weeks working on, i hope it's worth the wait and try to not get too confused about Sei and Madara, they're one person just different appearance.

The following day came sooner than Natsume wanted it to.

He woke up groggily and went to relieve his bladder and take a quick shower to fully wake himself up before going downstairs for breakfast. He left the bathroom and went back inside his bedroom to change. As he buttoned up his shirt, he stretched out his leg and kicked the sleeping cat on the side to wake it up.

“If you don’t wake up, you’ll miss breakfast.” Natsume informed his sensei. He grabbed his bag and made sure everything he’d need for school was inside before leaving his bedroom and going downstairs to eat breakfast, Nyanko-sensei following behind him at a slow pace.

“Oh? Takashi-kun, good morning,” Touko greeted the teenage male from her position in front of the stove. She gestured with one hand holding a pair of chopsticks for Natsume to take a seat and informed him that food would be ready soon. As Touko continued stirring the vegetables in the pan, Natsume greeted her husband who was currently reading through the newspaper, a steaming cup of tea by his side.

“Good morning, Takashi,” Shigeru replied to the young male’s greeting, taking a sip of his tea before lifting his eyes and making eye contact with the teenage boy, “How did you sleep?”

Natsume smiled slightly. It never seized to amaze him whenever the Fujiwara’s would ask him something so simple as how he slept. Back in all the other houses he’d been to, not a single soul bothered to ask him anything like that. They were all too focused on trying to push him onto another family. “I slept well, Shigeru-san. How did you sleep?” Natsume politely asked, grabbing Nyanko-sensei from the floor and placing him in his lap. He squirmed in Natsume’s lap before finding a comfortable position and closing his eyes, choosing to take a quick power nap.

Shigeru offered a small smile to Natsume and replied, “Very well.” He picked up the newspaper and continued reading a certain article, his head rising when his wife placed a pot of rice with soup and some vegetables on the table. He thanked her for the food, folded his newspaper and kept it to the side before waiting for his wife to take a seat and then he began eating his breakfast, occasionally asking Natsume about school and how many friends he’d managed to make so far.

Natsume answered all of Shigeru-san’s questions with a smile, pausing to put a chopstick-sized piece of rice and vegetables in his mouth and then replying. He finished his breakfast and stood to place his dishes in the sink, waving goodbye at the kind husband and wife who took him in before leaving their home with his sensei in tow.

 

                                                                                 ------------------------------------------------------

Natsume refused to carry Nyanko-sensei all the way to school when the latter whined for him to. He noticed the cat had put on weight and that made it tiring to carry him for short distances. He shuddered internally at the thought of carrying that fat pig-like cat for the long distance that was from the Shigeru household to his school. His arms would get weak even before they reached halfway. After telling his sensei that he needed the exercise, the two walked to school in silence only to be broken when his school came into sight and Natsume paused and turned to the cat, “I realize I should have asked this before but, how are you going to be with me in school today when you look like that?”

“Don’t tell me you planned to stay like that,” Natsume continued, gesturing with his hand to Madara’s unreal form.

If a cat could roll its eyes, that was what Nyanko-sensei did. He huffed and closed his eyes tightly, imagining a specific form in his mind and transforming into it, the air around them quickly turning to white before disappearing as quickly as it had arrived. Natsume waited to see what form his sensei had changed into and couldn’t believe what stood before him.

Nyanko-sensei had transformed into an almost identical replica of Natsume. Natsume stared in shock at the male before him, ‘Nyanko-sensei’ had short, cropped blonde hair that barely reached his ears, the front part being split directly in the middle to form some sort of bangs. He had bright yellow eyes that were only slightly brighter than Natsume. His skin was as pale as a white sheet, the color contrasting with the darkness of Natsume school uniform trousers. ‘How did he get my uniform?’ Natsume asked himself but ignored the question when the male before him opened his mouth and said, “This’ll work, right?”

Natsume looked at him critically, trying to see if there was anything off about the male in front of him and coming up blank. It was a perfect disguise. If he brought him to school and said he was a cousin visiting from afar, no one would question him about it or think anything was off. “Let’s hope it will,” Natsume resumed walking to school with Nyanko-sensei beside him. He hoped for his sake that nothing went wrong but since it was him, only God could have known what happened that day.

 

                                                                                                    -----------------------------------------

“My name is Sei Madara. I’m the cousin of Natsume and I’m here for a visit,” Madara bowed slightly, “Please take care of me for the time that I’ll be here.”

The class was deathly silent. Even the teacher teaching them had kept his mouth shut, looking at ‘Sei Madara’ with a strange look in his eyes. And Natsume knew that they were screwed. The teacher -obviously- wouldn’t believe a common lie like ‘My cousin is here for a visit so I brought him with me to school’. He began standing up from his chair, mouth opening, already ready to defend his and Madara’s lie. But before he could, the girls in his class opened their mouths and simultaneously squealed.

“Who’s he? He’s my type” One girl ‘whispered’ to another girl. Her hand was not so subtly pointing at the tall, male standing in front of the class with a bored look on his face.

“Didn’t you hear? Apparently he’s Natsume’s cousin.” The other girl answered. Her head was turned to face Sei Madara and her cheeks had turned a bright red.

Now that Natsume looked around at the girls and guys faces in the class, he noticed they all had different reactions to his sensei.

The girls were ‘whispering’ amongst themselves and most of them were blushing, while the boys were glaring at Sei, especially two of his closest friends. Natsume was confused. Why didn’t they think it’s suspicious of him, the one person least likely something like this, to bring a supposed relative to school?

But before he could speculate on why his class considered Sei Madara normal, the teacher silenced them and sent Sei Madara to his seat, which was conveniently placed in front of Natsume’s. Sei sat down with a bored look on his handsome features. He could stand human children but teenagers, practically bursting with hormones and adolescence, that, he really couldn’t stand. The girls’ squealed like pigs all around him and the harsh glares piercing through him from the boys already made him regret his decision to join Natsume to school. But he shook away that thought. He couldn’t just leave Natsume as he was, defenseless and weak. _Vulnerable._ He wouldn’t last two weeks let alone the rest of his life if he didn’t assist him in getting back his spiritual power.

“Alright,” The teacher clapped his hands, gathering everyone’s attention, “Keep quiet, class is starting.” And so began ‘Sei Madara’s’ and Natsume’s day in high school together.

                                                                                              -------------------------------------

It was tiring.

What, you ask? Everything was school, the people, _the activities._ Everything was tiring and Sei couldn’t stand it. He was getting sick of ‘being a teenager’ and the worst part was, it wasn’t even halfway done. He still had many more hours to go and the mere thought of staying in those dreaded walls, surrounded by hormonal students and irritated teachers made Sei sick to his stomach.

“Sei,” A certain girl had gotten quite clingy onto Sei and had not left his side unless she couldn’t help it. Sei barely remembered her name and had branded her the name, ‘Irritating woman’.

She walked up to him and stood beside his desk with her fingers intertwined behind her back. Her lips were pulled back in a sweet smile towards Sei. “Want to partner with me?”

He was about to rudely refuse when he remembered Natsume’s warning when the male had pulled him aside as they were switching classes, “ _Don’t do anything that’ll make you stand out. If anyone comes to talk to you, be polite and don’t chase them away.”_ Natsume added, _“Especially the girls.”_

Sei had been offended by Natsume’s warning. It was as though he was a rebellious child in need of a thorough scolding. However, he agreed to behave when the other male had offered to buy him any kind of food he’d like for a week.

“Sei?” The girl repeated. She cocked her head to the side in confusion from the blonde’s lack of response.

“Sure.” Sei finally answered. He closed his eyes (to hide the annoyance he knew was clear in his eyes) and smiled at the girl, sighing when the girl went to grab the necessary materials. His eyes twitched irritably when he heard muffled laughter behind him. He knew the sound would have only come out from one person. Turning in his seat, Sei glared daggers into Natsume’s face.

“What’s so funny?” he growled out.

Natsume laughed again this time less muffled than before, “Nothing, just I’ve never seen you smile before.” He laughed again when Sei glared even harder at him, his bright yellow eyes narrowed to thin slits and his upper lip pulled up in annoyance.

“Shut up.” Their conversation was cut short by the girl returning and Natsume turned to converse with his friends. The girl sat down and began whatever it was they were supposed to be doing, occasionally flashing a smile at Sei or curling her dark-brown hair behind her ears and Sei sighed. This was going to be a long day.

                                                                                       ----------------------------------------------------

Miraculously he managed to get through the remaining hours of school. Albeit, it took a large amount of his patience to be surrounded by _teenagers_ , but he got through it and Sei had never been happier to see Natsume slid open the classroom door and inform him that it was time to head home. Sei jumped from his seat and practically ran over to his student, unwilling to spend another second surrounded by nosy girls.

They hadn’t even reached the school’s entryway when Natsume broke down in laughter, bending down and clutching his knees for support as he laughed gleefully. Madara glared hatefully at the giggling blonde. He had never been more humiliated in his entire life. Madara knew Natsume would tease him for the next days –probably weeks to come. He turned on his heel and continued walking out of the school, not caring if the blonde followed or not.

Natsume’s laughter lessened to occasional snorts and he rose to his full height and chased after his sensei, deciding to save the jokes for later, Natsume led his sensei to the forest where his power was stolen from him. He hid it the best he could but Natsume was greatly unnerved by walking through that path once more. His memory kept flashing back to when he’d ran for his life and he glanced around uneasily, he felt even more vulnerable and useless without his ability, he felt so _exposed._

Madara saw Natsume’s uneasy glance around the area and a part of him felt bad for the teenage boy. He’d been able to see things other humans couldn’t since he was old enough to tell the difference between black and white, having it suddenly taken away from his person couldn’t be easy. But there was nothing Madara could say that would ease the younger boy’s unease. That was something Natsume would have to conquer on his own, all Madara could do was help him get back his ability and then thoroughly scold him later (like he did with the fox-like spirit).

“It was here.” Natsume said, suddenly stopping and searching the area for that evil spirit.

“I can tell,” At Natsume’s strange look, Madara elaborated. “The air isn’t…clean. I sensed a dark, heavy feel in the air since we entered the forest. It’s completely magnified here. Whichever spirit took your ability is quite evil and dangerous.”

Natsume worriedly searched the area for any sign of well, anything till he remembered he couldn’t see whatever he was searching for even if it was there. He had no other choice but to rely on his sensei. He was about to ask Madara a question when the spirit silenced him and transformed into what Natsume guessed was his true form. Natsume couldn’t see Madara but heard the old spirit growl for him to hide quickly, which he did, taking cover behind one of the trees and looking around wildly. He was trying to spot Madara when his eyes caught on something else, something much worse than the evil spirit ruling that area. His eyes spotted a human hiding behind a tree like he was. Only this wasn’t any human wandering the area, this was someone he knew.

Natsume stood there, hiding behind a tree, his eyes opened in shock and horror and focused on the hiding form of Tanuma.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Showtime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to all of you who read this, thank you so much.

Natsume couldn’t believe it but it was true, no matter how many times he blinked and tried to believe that what he was seeing was an illusion, it wasn’t, Tanuma was really there in the forest with him and Madara.

He racked his brain for a way to quickly get to Tanuma and make him leave the dangerous forest, but paused in his thoughts when he felt something dark settle around them, making the air heavy and hard to breathe in.

“It’s here.” Natsume heard Madara’s voice say and he nodded his head even though he doubted Madara could see the movement.

Strong winds suddenly blew through the forest and made the fallen leaves on the ground rise up and fly around wildly all around. He raised a hand to block the leaves from his eyes and kept it there till the strong wind passed and with its passing went the sound of the forest, leaving it deathly silent. Even the occasional rustle heard in the bushes behind him had ceased. It was as though every living creature in the forest had disappeared, leaving only Natsume, Tanuma and Madara.

Slowly lowering his hand, Natsume immediately searched for Tanuma and was hit by a wave of panic when he couldn’t see the male hiding behind the tree anymore.

His eyes frantically searched the area and caught a flash of something passing quickly. He barely saw it and thus couldn’t make it out but he could tell where it was headed. Natsume could tell whatever he had just seen was heading his direction and moving extremely quickly, far too quick to be a human but not at impossible speeds for a Yokai.

‘ _Crap!’_ Natsume thought. He considered turning and running as fast as his legs could carry him from the Yokai heading their direction but couldn’t find it inside him to abandon Tanuma. More so in a highly dangerous area populated with different kinds of Yokai’s that Tanuma could _only vaguely_ see.

“Sensei!” Natsume called out to Madara and didn’t wait for a response before continuing. “There’s something headed this way!”

“Natsume, you stay hidden no matter what, got it?” He heard the rustling of leaves ahead of him and Natsume guessed that Madara had moved in front of him, to protect him from whatever it was that was heading their way.

But before he could give a reply, there was a heavy thud some distance from where he was, followed by a loud, angry snarl originating from Madara who –true to his guess- was positioned in front of him as Natsume futilely tried to see what was going on between Madara and the Yokai trying to attack him.

But that wasn’t his main concern at the moment –he knew Madara could handle himself and even if he tried to help, without his sight he wouldn’t be of any use. He realized this as cold dread settled deep in his gut.

He was concerned for Madara who was currently battling the evil spirit that robbed him of his ‘sight’, after having fallen for their trap. But the dread currently pooling in his gut came from something else, and that was Tanuma’s continued absence. 

Natsume recalled Madara’s warning to stay hidden, and as much as he would have liked to –for the first time- listen to what his Sensei told him, he couldn’t. He had to go find Tanuma who –unlike his Sensei- couldn’t handle himself against magical creatures that he could barely see. Something horrible could happen and that was the last thing Natsume wanted.

He never wanted Tanuma to be involved in the Yokai world solely because of scenarios like these. Currently he was utterly powerless to help the dark-haired male who was most definitely in danger, and if he had to hurt Tanuma’s feelings a few times on the way then that was absolutely alright with Natsume, so long as he could keep Tanuma safe, it didn’t matter what happened in the process.

And with that in his mind, Natsume ran off in search of Tanuma, praying to any deity listening that Tanuma was somewhere safe.

 

                                              --------------------------------------------------------------

He didn’t even understand why he had followed after Natsume and his ‘relative’ when he had seen them leave school in a hurry and head to the forest.

The proper thing would have been to stay in school, finish his duties and then head home and try asking Natsume what he was going to do in the forest with his relative. But instead, Tanuma chose to follow after the duo and had gotten himself into such a big mess, he wasn’t sure if he could even get out of.

                                    ------------------------------------------------------

Tanuma was currently tied to a tree.

His hands were bound tightly behind his back with the bark of the tree digging into his exposed arms painfully. He thought about how worried his father would be when he saw his scraped forearms and Tanuma knew he wouldn’t quite be able to explain him leaving school earlier than usual to follow his classmate and his relative who was only there for a day into the forest and he somehow ended up falling unconscious and woke up tied to a tree.

Hearing it detailed like that, Tanuma cringed, there really was no way to explain that without sounding insane, creepy or incredibly stupid. Unfortunately, Tanuma felt like he was all of the above.

The scolding he was imagining he’d receive from his father was cut short when he heard movement in the bushes to his left. Tanuma craned his head in that direction and tried seeing what creature it was but he realized he had been tied in a way that he couldn’t try and turn to see anything that wasn’t in front of him and he stopped trying and waited with his breath caught in his throat.

Due to his weak Yokai-seeing abilities, Tanuma was sure that he’d only see the surrounding trees and bushes. Which was why he was surprised when a Yokai with a half black and green mask with intricate markings on both halves stood before him.

From its shape, Tanuma guessed it was a female Yokai. “How…how is it that I can see you?” Tanuma had to ask, he knew –from experience- that he lacked in magical ability so how was it possible that he could see a Yokai so clearly, standing right in front of him?

The female Yokai didn’t answer his question and just stared at him eerily.

“You…you’re a Yokai, right?” Tanuma struggled against the bonds on his body, “You’re the one who kidnapped me, right?”

Once more, there was no reply and the woman continued staring at Tanuma.

“Answer me!” Tanuma yelled at her, frustration clear in his voice as he continued struggling against the ropes tying him to the tree. He ignored how the friction of the rope against his skin burned and continued struggling, only stopping when the female Yokai finally decided to talk.

“Stop it; you’ll end up bleeding if you continue doing that.” Her voice was nothing like what Tanuma expected. He had expected a somewhat high-pitched voice but it was the complete opposite. It was rather deep and rough. It sounded like she had been smoking cigarettes for her entire life and the smoke had some sort of effect on her vocal chords.

“Answer my questions, why did you kidnap me?” Tanuma listened and kept still. The pain on his arms was beginning to slowly increase in intensity but Tanuma pushed it away, he had other things to focus other than his pain.

“You mean, I saved you,” The woman said, squatting down to eye level with the high-school student. Her mask had only three holes; one for the mouth and two for the eyes and with the distance between them, Tanuma could clearly see her bright yellow snake-like eyes.

“What do you mean ‘save’?” Tanuma asked confusedly.

“I mean, if I hadn’t ‘kidnapped you’, as you say, you would have been dead.” The female Yokai lifted her hand and Tanuma was momentarily scared that she was going to hurt him but the fear turned to shock when the female Yokai slowly pulled off her mask and exposed her face to Tanuma. “You owe me your life, human child.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tanuma agrees to a deal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Latest update,hope you like it!!

“What are you saying?” Tanuma refused to believe the female Yokai’s words. There was no way he could possibly have been in danger of dying and had a Yokai –a spirit that he lacked the power to even hear them _speak_ \- save him.

The woman sighed exasperatedly. “Are all human boys this slow?” She sounded as if she was talking to herself instead of posing the question to Tanuma.

“What I am saying, boy, is that the Yokai that appeared in the forest and is currently fighting with that other Yokai would have killed you, had I not been there and saved your life.”

Tanuma was taken aback. He had faintly sensed a strong presence but he knew it belonged to a single Yokai but the fact that there was another strong Yokai and the two Yokai’s were fighting without his knowledge was an utter surprise to him.

Tanuma had plenty of questions to ask the she-Yokai but didn’t know which one to begin with. They were all important things that he wanted to know and he decided to start by what she had told him about the Yokai’s.

“What do you mean the two Yokai’s are fighting?” 

The she-Yokai stood up and wore her mask, only this time she didn’t let it over her face and let it hang on the side of her head. She looked down at Tanuma with disdain clear in her flaxen-colored eyes and sighed once more before moving to sit on one of the broken logs lying on the ground not far away from Tanuma. “There seems to be some sort of feud between them or something like that.” She replied to Tanuma’s question.

And while Tanuma was highly curious on the Yokai’s fighting, his mind began wandering how it was that he could see her, an obvious Yokai, clear as day with no trouble whatsoever. He remembered questioning her about it earlier but the she-Yokai had yet to give him an answer so he decided to repeat the question.

“How is it that I can see you?”

“I placed a spell on you,” The she-Yokai began talking, “–calm down, it’s nothing dangerous,” adding on when she saw Tanuma’s fearful look. “It’s a somewhat complex spell that allows you to see us Yokai and amplifies the magical power inside your body, be it weak or strong.”

“So…you’ve increased the magic inside of me and made it possible to see you and other Yokai’s?” Tanuma said slowly and the she-Yokai nodded.

He was trying to process all the new information but he needed a few minutes for it all too fully sink in. “How much has my magical power increased?” Tanuma didn’t mean to sound cocky or anything like that. He simply wanted to know how much power he –temporarily- held within.

“Who knows,” The she-Yokai shrugged, “It depends on how much power you have inside you, I guess.”

‘ _Probably not much,_ ’ Tanuma thought. He felt largely disappointed by how weak his power was but pushed the feeling aside, it wasn’t the time nor the place to begin feeling sorry for himself, and asked the she-Yokai another question.

“What do you plan to do with me now?” The she-Yokai simply stared at him with no emotion showing on her face. “Do you plan to eat me?” Tanuma bravely asked but if he was being honest, he was scared. Tanuma was absolutely terrified at the thought of being eaten by a Yokai but put on a brave front. Even he knew to not let a spirit, good or evil, know that he was afraid.

“You really are slow, aren’t you?” She said with a shake of her head. “If I wanted to eat you, I would have already done so whilst you were sleeping so defenseless in front of me.”

She stood up and walked over to Tanuma once more. “And as to what I plan to do with you now,” She bent down to be eye level with the teenage male and said, “I am planning to use you for something rather important.”

                                                ---------------------------------------------

Natsume quickly made his way around to where he had first seen Tanuma and began searching around there for any sign of the dark-haired male. He found nothing. And while Natsume considered shouting out Tanuma’s name, he didn’t want to risk him getting caught by a Yokai or a human passing by. And so, he kept quiet but frantically searched for Tanuma and hoping for the male to not be in a dangerous situation.

                                                 --------------------------------------------

“What do you mean by that?” asked Tanuma. He was confused and he was certain the feeling was visible on his features.

“There is something I have to do and I need you for it.” She said.

Tanuma wasn’t dumb. He could tell the female Yokai was evading his question but he wasn’t planning on giving up. He was determined to find out what it was the Yokai needed with him. “Stop evading the question. What do you plan to do with me?”

The female Yokai smirked slightly. “My plan is to merge my Yokai abilities with your amplified magic.” She said.

“How…is that even possible?” asked Tanuma. He was conflicted between being intrigued and curious at the idea of having a Yokai’s powers inside him and being horrified.

“Yes, it is possible but there’s a chance your body will not be able to handle the amount of magic inside it and you may die.” The smirk on her lips had faded and had left her slender lips pressed together tightly.

“What?” Tanuma’s eyes had widened to comical proportions and his jaw had fallen open slightly revealing the tips of his white teeth. “You can’t do that!” he exclaimed.

“Yes I can. Remember you owe me your life.” She said.

“I do and I am grateful that you saved me but you can’t expect me to merge with you if it will kill me!”

“Not even if it would save that other human boy and give him back what that Yokai took?” She asked evilly.

Tanuma faltered. “You mean Natsume? You can give Natsume’s sight back?”

“I can’t.” The female Yokai said. “But you can.”

“If you merge with my Yokai powers, you’ll be strong enough to take down that Yokai and give Natsume back his eyes.” The female Yokai was under the assumption that this Natsume boy had lost his literal eyes and was now blind. She knew the Yokai didn’t have such power but didn’t dare say a thing and went along with it. If playing along with whatever story the young boy had cooked in his head got her what she wanted, she saw no harm in deceiving Tanuma.

Tanuma didn’t want to believe her but at the same time he wanted to help Natsume in any way he could. He knew she could simply be deceiving him to achieve her own goals but if she was deceiving him, not only would he make sure she wouldn’t achieve whatever her goal was, he was going to make sure she regretted ever trying to deceive him.

“Okay.” “I’ll merge with you.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It Escalates even higher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took forever, still short and still un beta-d. I posted this earlier on without my beta doing her magic on it so bear with me and the mistakes you will most definitely find!
> 
> And I gift this chapter to: MidnightOwl, because they are an angel and always say such nice things about this story that i still don't know where it's going. This is for you, thank you for still reading this random piece of work and enjoying it!

At some point, Natsume knew, deep inside, that he was lost and was just wasting time walking in circles around the forest but he didn’t stop. A part of him hoped that he’d miraculously stumble upon Tanuma but he didn’t. He walked until he got too tired to walk another step and took a short break, sitting down on a broken –probably termite infested- log.

Natsume didn’t want to rest for too long. He was not willing to risk accidentally attracting any kind of dangerous beast hiding in the forest. He was completely defenceless and wasn’t any closer to finding Tanuma and fear and anxiety were slowly chewing away at his insides. The fear was –rightfully- for Tanuma. He hoped that a part of Tanuma had sensed the danger in the forest and had run back to the school but he knew it was wishful thinking. Tanuma –no matter how many times Natsume told him to- would never leave him if he was in danger and even when he wasn’t in any danger, Tanuma would _always_ stay.

Natsume wasn’t one to curse much but he let out a soft curse, running his hands through his blonde locks. He turned his head up to look at the sky. It was getting dark, the sky changing from a simple yet gorgeous light blue to a darker, more sombre dark grey colour that promised rain in the not too distant future.

He had to get Tanuma before the rains arrived or else; they would end up being in a much worse off situation than the one they were currently in. Natsume got up and wiped his bum of the dirt and broken sticks and went in the opposite direction he had been walking in, continuing his search for Tanuma with half-false hope in his heart.

‘ _I have to get him back.’_

 

Tanuma, on the other hand, was horrified.

He watched as the She-Yokai walked out of his sight for a few seconds only to return with a small, brown ratty bag. The bag had small green, red and yellow gems in a small circle on the centre front–or what Tanuma assumed to be the front- and it had a few holes that been carelessly stitched back together making the bag have some sort of worn-out appeal to it. It looked like something that had long since passed its time and Tanuma didn’t quite know how to explain it.

She removed ordinary-looking rocks from the bag –some round and shapely in a way, others sharp and jagged- and walked over to Tanuma and bent down, placing each rock in a circle around Tanuma till he had four rocks placed a few feet in front of him, one at his right, and another on the left and the other one in front of his feet, the last one was placed behind him. Each rock was perfectly in line with the other.

She stood up tall and walked away from Tanuma, stopping when the rock to his front was a few inches from the toes on her foot. She then reached inside the bag and removed an empty black bowl that had strange swirly, almost artistically, carvings on the outside in white. They spiralled up from the base of the bowl till the inside, spreading out wide like a drop of oil on water and ending on two, small graceful curls. She placed it on the ground and removed her last item, a silver blade with a black handle, curved into it were small engravings that Tanuma couldn’t make out from how far it was.

“W-What do you plan to do with that?” Tanuma nervously stumbled over his words. He had paled significantly since the blade made its appearance and he was now eyeing it warily.

“Stay calm. It won’t hurt that much.” Her attempt –if it could even be considered as one- at calming him down was simply abysmal. She only served to make his rapidly rising anxiety worse.

She lifted the blade to her wrist and pressed down before pulling it towards her chest, a trail of bright red blood following behind the blade. She picked up the black bowl up and placed it underneath her bloody wrist, watching blankly as her blood filled the bowl to half point. The female Yokai ripped a piece of her clothing, using her uninjured hand and her teeth, and wrapped it around the wound before walking up to Tanuma with the blood-filled bowl in one hand and the suddenly clean blade in the other.

The female Yokai saw Tanuma’s confused look to the clean blade and decided to explain the strange magic. “I have a strange kind of power. I can turn back time, a few minutes at most, of any object or person of my choosing.”

Tanuma didn’t know much –almost nothing, if he was being honest- about Yokai’s but he thought that power sounded rather peculiar for a Yokai to have. He voiced this thought out loud but the She-Yokai refused to answer and simply walked to one side of the tree where Tanuma’s arms were tied and bent down on one knee. She lifted Tanuma’s arm and pressed the blade to Tanuma’s skin and before Tanuma could yell for her to stop, the female Yokai had sliced his wrist and had placed the bowl underneath his wrist for the blood to pour into.

It burned. It burned and it wasn’t like the burn you receive after accidentally touching a hot pan. No, this was a different kind of pain that made Tanuma bite down on his lip to hold back a yelp of pain.

The female Yokai removed the bowl from underneath Tanuma’s wrist and placed her hand –the one with the cut, he felt the rough texture of her cloth brush against his skin- on Tanuma and Tanuma slowly felt his skin stitch back together. It was an unnerving feeling.

She stood up with the bowl and the once again clean blade in her hand. This time the knife was the one that was dropped to the ground and the bowl remained in her hands. The female Yokai –‘Kotoh’ he had gotten tired of addressing her as ‘She-Yokai’ or ‘her’ in his head and had asked for a name, she had answered with ‘Kotoh, you can call me Kotoh.’- closed her eyes and began speaking in a low voice, so low that Tanuma could only catch snippets of her words and they were in a language he couldn’t understand.

The chanting –Tanuma settled for that since he didn’t know what to call what Kotoh was doing- went on for a short while and then Kotoh suddenly opened her eyes and looked directly at him, her bright golden eyes piercing through him with their intense stare.

“This will hurt very badly.” Kotoh said.

That was the only warning Tanuma got before Kotoh began drawing marks on her face, using the blood as paint and tainting her skin dark red with the colour.

The pain was absolutely excruciating with every curve and twist of Kotoh’s hand, spreading from his face down through the rest of his whole body, setting all of his nerves alight. He tried bearing through it for the first few seconds but couldn’t manage and he screamed loudly, the sound resonating through the –surprisingly- silent forest.

 

 

“What was that?” Natsume had heard Tanuma’s scream and turned in the general direction from where he heard it.

Another scream followed the first one, longer and much louder than the first.

Natsume tentatively took a step back. ‘ _Who is that and why do they keep screaming?’_ Natsume questioned in his mind. He figured it was probably for the best that he didn’t go see what or who was screaming so much, but he couldn’t find it in himself to simply turn away and abandon the poor creature –or whatever it was- screaming for help. So, he –against every fibre in his being screaming at him to turn away and go somewhere presumably more safe- began walking towards the screams, using them as his map and passing through the forest till he arrived to the source.

 

 

Tanuma begged for the pain to come to an end multiple times in his end and he was beginning to surrender to the comforting thought of unconsciousness when, as suddenly as it had passed through his body, the pain was gone and he was left there, breathless and panting, face flushed pink and damp with sweat. He hadn’t even realized he had closed his eyes in the midst of his temporary torture. He opened them and looked at Kotoh who had a grimace –wince? - on her face. She didn’t look half as pained as Tanuma felt and that pissed him off.

“What the hell are you doing?” He asked her angrily.

“Performing the ritual needed for our powers to merge.” She answered with a tone that suggested Tanuma was stupid for not realizing that.

“I figured that much out,” Tanuma said back spitefully. “What I don’t _get_ is why it hurt that much!”

“I did warn you it would hurt.” She said as if that pathetic ‘warning’ she had given him justified the pain he just went through.

“It doesn’t change the fact that it was extremely painful!” Tanuma felt like screaming again and not out of pain. But out of frustration.

“Too bad.” Kotoh said and continued preparing more things that Tanuma couldn’t identify. He sat there and watched warily as the pain slowly filtered out of his body, his eyes fixed on Kotoh as she finished and stood up tall.

 Kotoh looked down at Tanuma and closed her eyes and began the chanting from before.

His fear spiked up to a hundred per cent.

Only this time, it wasn’t exactly –tear-your-eyeballs-out-with-a-rusted-spoon- pain but more of a great discomfort. He felt something tingling in his chest that grew stronger as Kotoh continued chanting till his chest felt incredibly hot from the inside. He tried to lessen the uncomfortable feeling to no avail. He squirmed around the tree, the broken pieces of bark tearing through his shirt and stabbing his skin. Kotoh’s chanting increased in volume and she threw her head back and looked at the sky, her chanting ever rising in volume, and suddenly, she stopped and collapsed unconscious on the ground with Tanuma following behind her.

 

Natsume had expected to find a wounded animal or something when he came across the source of the screams. He had not expected to find the boy he had been searching for all this while, tied up to a tree, unconscious with damp, sweaty skin and a bowl filled with a substance that teetered close to blood, and an unidentified unconscious female on the ground.

He immediately ran to Tanuma and tried shaking the male awake. “Tanuma! Hey, Tanuma! Wake up!” Tanuma’s head fell limply in Natsume’s hands. The dark-haired male’s skin was slowly losing its warmth and felt cool in Natsume’s palms.

Terror gripped Natsume’s heart tightly. ‘ _He couldn’t be dead. There’s no way._ ’ Natsume bent down and pressed his ear against Tanuma’s chest, waiting to hear that familiar _thud_ of a heart beating, pumping blood all-throughout the body.

He couldn’t find a heartbeat.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guardians.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I have a super duper loong chapter that is for @Maya, for always being there since chapter one, thank you! And to @Lou, thank you for your comment and to @Amaya6, such a kind, polite soul thank you for giving this the time of day and to @MidnightOwl, this girl hypes me up so much to write, I wish she or he knew, thank you so much to everyone who reads this and i hope i don't disappoint you all.

Tanuma was in a dream, but, it didn’t quite feel like one. He knew he was dreaming but couldn’t help feeling distant, detached, as if he was watching everything going on around him in another person’s point of view, and not his own. 

He was looking down at his seemingly lifeless body from above and the ground beneath his body wasn’t the fresh smelling, green grass he left it in the forest and could clearly remember. It was pitch black and it was an endless sea of it, stretching so far out, Tanuma wondered if there even was an end. He looked away from his body and at Kotoh’s, the woman sprawled out ungracefully on the ground a few feet from his body. They both were dead.

A part of him thought he ought to be angry or scared at the very least, but he wasn’t. He was rather calm –no, calm wasn’t the proper term. He was empty, unfeeling, and devoid of any emotion and that perhaps was a much scarier feeling than seeing his dead body.

“Strange, isn’t it, looking down at your dead body.” A familiar voice suddenly spoke out, shattering the silence that enveloped Tanuma wholly.

He turned to look at the source of the noise.

It was Kotoh, hovering –he hadn’t realized he too was hovering till he saw Kotoh- in the air beside him, also looking down at her body but with a strange smile on her lips. Tanuma also turned and stared at their bodies.

“It’s unnerving,” He shook his head and rephrased his words, “It’s calming.”

Kotoh laughed, the sound echoing for miles in whatever space they were in. “Yes, in a sense I suppose it is calming.”

“Where are we?” Tanuma asked, turning to look at Kotoh.

 “Are we dead?” He knew he was dead but asked Kotoh anyway, wanting her to deny and say that they were suspended in space, or time had frozen, anything but actual confirmation that he was no longer alive and breathing and what he was experiencing wasn’t an image implanted into his brain.

“You know the answer to the second question on your own. You don’t need me to tell you that.” Kotoh said blankly.

“As for your first question, we are in…” Kotoh paused and searched for the right words before resuming speaking. “You can call it whatever you like, but I call it, ‘ _caixa negra.’_

“Caixa nera?” Tanuma couldn’t pronounce the words very well, not at all like Kotoh who said it with so much fluency. One would think she was speaking another different, modified version of English.

“ _Caixa negra.”_  She corrected Tanuma.

Kotoh waved her arms in a sweeping motion starting from a few inches in front of her chest, palms facing forward –if such directions existed in that place- and swept them through the air in a circle that ended some inches below her waist. She let her hands drop down to her sides. “It’s Galician for ‘black box’.”

Tanuma had never heard of a language like Galician before and asked Kotoh where it –the black box, not the language- came from and if Galicia was where _she_ herself originated from.

 Kotoh refused to answer about her origins but did answer where the _caixa negra_ came from. “I made it. Well, I personally didn’t make it but the person who did make it, or who helped make it, died.”

Tanuma was smart enough not to pry into this mysterious person’s life and moved on from that line of conversation. He looked down at his dead body and back to Kotoh, and then back down to his body.

“If we’re dead and the area around us is pitch-black, how can we still see our bodies? Shouldn’t we be going to rest in peace or something like that? What are we doing here in your ‘black box’?”

“I see even in death you still ask a number of questions.” Kotoh said with a flat tone.

“We are dead,” She began, “but it’s only our physical bodies that are dead.” “Our spirits are here, suspended in _caixa negra_ , and are very much alive. That is why your still able to see your body and aren’t off to heaven or wherever it is humans go to after death.” Kotoh said.

Tanuma thought he was slowly becoming accustomed to Kotoh’s strange…everything, but he was completely wrong. “You sent our spirits to your black box?”

He was beyond surprised at hearing that. He was certain the magic Kotoh possessed was to turn back time not transportation of souls from dimension to dimension. “Why? What do you gain from sending us here to _caixa negra_?”

Kotoh huffed, the sound coming from her mouth and nostrils simultaneously. “Foolish boy, don’t you remember anything I told you?” “We are going to merge and I cannot merge our physical bodies, only our spirits. I sent us here, where magic flows freely and is easily accessible unlike on earth, so that we could fuse and return to your physical body as one.”

“Maybe.” She added as a last thought and sent fear rushing down Tanuma’s spine.

“How are we to fuse? By another weird ritual or…” He trailed off leaving Kotoh to fill in his deliberate blanks. He was feeling strangely calm again.

Tanuma felt queer switching back and forth between emotions, never really knowing which one he was experiencing before the next emotion overtook, and the memory of the previous feeling was erased. Tanuma felt like it was the _caixa negra_ fault as to why he was rapidly flipping between emotions; just like flipping through the pages in a book. One emotion never lasted more than five minutes before it was gone again and Tanuma _knew_ he should be more unnerved by that but he wasn’t. He was –as he had been resulting to since waking up in the box- exceedingly calm.

“No, this part is simple.” Kotoh produced a silver blade, identical to the one she used in earth, and slit a long line stretching from her forearm and down to the middle of her palm, a perfectly straight line. “Give me your hand and speak as I speak.”

Tanuma did so without hesitating –another working of the box, he supposed- and watched with a hint of tentativeness in the very back of his mind as Kotoh pressed down the blade on the lower parts of his forearm close to his bicep and began cutting a straight line till the middle of his right hand palm, identical to the cut on Kotoh’s left arm.

A part of him recognized the blinding pain that was shooting from his arm and all through his body but, he didn’t acknowledge it and continued staring at his bloodied right arm. The cut, he noticed, wasn’t deep enough that any major veins were damaged and neither was it deep enough to fully immobilize the arm, proven by his ring finger folding over the pinkie finger and returning to its original position but was deep enough to draw blood that dripped down his forearm and fell down towards the –bottom?- of the _caixa negra_.

Kotoh grabbed his right arm with her left, and placed her cut in line with his, their bloods merging and dripping down each other’s palms and arms. Kotoh closed her eyes and began to speak, Tanuma –strange as it was- following in her example.

 _“oa caixa negra como a mina testemuna, eu Kotoh, comandante e gobernador da caixa negra,”_ Kotoh said.

“ _oa caixa negra como a mina testemuna, eu Kaname,_ ” Tanuma didn’t repeat the last parts of Kotoh’s sentence when he felt the woman tighten her hold on his arm, a silent order not to say the ending and only the beginning.

“ _xurar un pacto de sangue de acordo en fundrise co ser humano, Tanuma, e aceptar as consecuencias que se seguiran_.” Kotoh continued on to say, the words rolling off her tongue so smoothly, Tanuma couldn’t help but believe Galacia was her true place of birth.

“ _xurar un pacto de sangue de acordo en fundrise co ser humano, Kotoh, e aceptar as consecuencias que se seguiran._ ” Tanuma was still clumsy when it came to the pronunciations but he managed to say it and the second he finished saying those words, Kotoh’s spirit disappeared into him, blending their spirits and combining them to form one. 

 

 

“No, you can’t be…” Natsume whispered to himself, his hands tight around Tanuma’s biceps using his hold there to shake the boy in poor attempts of awakening the dark-haired boy. It didn’t work. Tanuma continued to be dead and Natsume was very slowly coming to terms with that. “Tanuma! Wake up! Please, Tanuma, wake up!” Natsume hadn’t realized he was crying till he saw the dark grey stains on Tanuma’s school trousers and the damp spots on his white shirt. He had untied Tanuma from the tree and laid him down on the ground.

Natsume had opened a few buttons of Tanuma’s shirt till it exposed his chest and had bent down to listen for a heartbeat. He –like the first five times he had already tried- didn’t find a heartbeat. Natsume wiped away the tears with the back of his hand and tried doing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the boy. He repeated it over and over and one more time, but there was no reaction; Tanuma’s heart refused to beat and Tanuma was still dead on the forest ground. “No… this can’t be happening…” Natsume whispered lowly.

Despite his earlier attempts to stop crying, he couldn’t hold back the tears and didn’t try to. He placed his head on Tanuma’s slender chest and let the tears flow. He cried for some time on Tanuma’s chest, all the while accepting the fact that Tanuma’s lifeless body was lying in the forest, never again to draw breath, never to see the light of day again, and it was entirely his fault.

Natsume laid there till the tears stopped. He knew he should go and get some help but he didn’t want to leave Tanuma lying there alone and the closest person who could’ve helped him was Madara but Natsume knew he was too far away for the older spirit to hear his cry for help. He cursed himself mentally for not listening to Madara’s warning. If he had listened and waited, he might have been able to reach to Tanuma faster and be able to save his life, but he hadn’t and now he had to face the consequences of his actions. 

Natsume removed himself from Tanuma and stood up, drying his wet eyes with the sleeve of his shirt as he tried thinking of a plan. He could try to quickly figure his way out of the forest and run back to the school to get help but, the idea of leaving a dead, defenseless Tanuma alone in the forest left a bitter taste in his mouth.  _‘I have to go get help, but I can’t leave him here, what if he gets attacked and eaten by a passing Yokai?’_

 The thought scared Natsume more than he would have liked to admit. He turned his back to face Tanuma, suddenly unable to look at the male and continued thinking. As he was running through several options –all of which didn’t seem pleasing- he heard a loud gasp coming from behind him followed by a series of coughs. Natsume didn’t dare turn around, frozen in place by shock, fear and heavy apprehension.

‘ _There’s no way. He was –is- dead. I saw it. I heard it. I know I did_.’

Natsume remembered the feel of Tanuma’s lifeless body in his arms. He was absolutely sure the male had died. And yet, where were those dry heaving sounds coming from? He had to look. He had to know. He turned around. 

And there sitting up being very much alive was Tanuma.

 ‘ _It hurts. It really hurts. Why won’t it stop hurting?’_ Tanuma rubbed at his chest, futilely wishing for the pain to disappear with every pass of his palm. It didn’t.

‘ _The pain is from the merge. It should let up after a while. Give it time.’_ A familiar voice spoke to him –no, spoke to him weren’t the right words. That voice spoke into him, directly into his mind. His dry coughs abruptly stopped and he looked around in fear, barely registering the fact that Natsume was looking at him in fear and doubt. ‘ _Don’t be a fool, Kaname. Remember what happened in the caixa negra, remember who I am.’_

And it all flashed through his brain, the sudden flashes making his head explode in a burst of pain. He grabbed it and tried to stop the images but it was no use and it all came back to him, being in the caixa negra, the chanting, Kotoh disappearing into him.

Kotoh.

That was whom the voice belonged to. She was inside of him at that very moment, seeing what he saw, feeling what he felt. She was him, and he was her.

 

Natsume watched as Tanuma slowly stood up and looked at him. Natsume knew it wasn’t possible for the male to have changed drastically in the past hour, but that was how he felt when Tanuma looked at him. It wasn’t the usual look he’d receive from the older male. This time, it was more guarded and unfamiliar. Simply put, Natsume knew he was looking at a living, breathing Tanuma, but he didn’t feel like his Tanuma.

“Tanuma…” Natsume couldn’t find the words to express how he felt. “How are you – I found your dead body, I know you died but how are you alive?”

Tanuma blinked. “Don’t worry about that.”

Natsume was baffled. “What do you mean don’t worry about that? You died! Of course I would be worried about that!”

“I didn’t die. I was suspended in space. That is all.”

Natsume’s suspicion of Tanuma was increasing. The Tanuma he knew would have never flippantly brushed off death, any death really, more so if it was his own.

“Suspended in space? What does that mean? You’re not making any sense, Tanuma!”

Tanuma’s face shifted from neutrality to annoyance. “Are all humans this slow or is it only your associates?” He muttered low so that Natsume wouldn’t hear but he did and his suspicion of Tanuma reached its climax. This person _was not_ Tanuma.

“You…You’re not Tanuma, are you? Where is he? What did you do with Tanuma? Answer me!” Natsume’s mind told him to put distance between them and he took a step back, unnerved when Tanuma took one forward.

“What are you saying Natsume?” Tanuma’s head cocked to the side. “I am Tanuma. I’m right in front of you, don’t you see me?”

Natsume stepped back again. Tanuma followed.

“No…no… you’re not Tanuma, you’re not the real Tanuma. What did you do with him?”

Tanuma’s head rightened and he looked at Natsume for a while. Natsume hadn’t been focusing on the other male’s appearance and thus had failed to notice the changes but when he did, he couldn’t un-see them. The other male’s eye color had shifted from a deep, dark blue to a brighter almost greenish color. His hair had also lengthened and was no longer reaching past his ears almost touching his shoulder. The tips of his hair casually rested on his shoulders and his hairstyle had changes so that now his hair partly covered his eyes. He looked…older, less like a teenager in high school and more of an adult.

“You are right.” Older-Tanuma said. “But you are also wrong.”

Natsume was confused. “I don’t understand, what do you mean by that?”

“I mean,” Older-Tanuma began, “I am Tanuma but I am not only Tanuma. Tanuma is still here, this is his rightful body, but he is not the only one inhabiting it.”

Natsume couldn’t believe his ears.  He had a hint as to what the Older-Tanuma meant but he dismissed the thought. There was no way that was true and even if it was, how could it have possibly happened and with whom?

“You know what I mean, don’t you, Natsume Takashi, owner of the Yuujinchou.” Older-Tanuma said but it wasn’t Tanuma’s voice. It was deeper, much deeper than Tanuma’s original voice. “Tanuma and I are one in his body. Our spirits –no, or very souls have been fused together. He and I are one.”

Natsume tripped on a tree root and fell to the ground on his butt. He looked up at Older-Tanuma and for a second, he could swear he saw Tanuma’s left eye became slit-eyed and turned from blue to yellow. Tanuma looked several levels of intimidating and Natsume for the first time was scared _of_ Tanuma and not _for_ him.

“Fused together? Why would Tanuma do that and who are you and how do you know my name? You keep on saying ‘I’ but I don’t know who you are!” Natsume bravely argued back.

“I am Kotoh, a Guardian of the forest, Natsume Takashi. And I know you the same way most Yokai’s do, through your own reputation and your grandmother, Natsume Reiko, previous owner and creator of the Yuujinchou.”

It was incredibly disturbing to be looking up at Tanuma and seeing the male speak of things Natsume never told him about in a deep voice. But Natsume did his best to look past the disturbing image and focused on the information being delivered to him by Kotoh.

He was about to ask her –him? Them?- another question when a rustling of leaves distracted him and drew his and Kotoh’s –and Tanuma’s attention towards the bushes to their left, directly in the path Natsume had passed through and seen Tanuma’s and –Kotoh’s- bodies.

“Stand back.” Kotoh said, moving in front of Natsume and shielding him with Tanuma’s body.

Natsume didn’t like that and stood up before moving to stand beside the older male. “I don’t like people sacrificing themselves for me or trying to save me. I can protect myself.”

Tanuma –Kotoh?- turned his head slightly to look at him and nodded. “I see you are as hard-headed as Reiko was.” He turned to face the bushes again and lowered himself into a fighting stance. “It’s coming!”

Natsume turned to face it as well and was preparing himself for the worst when a very familiar, fat pig-like cat pranced through, it’s slit yellow eyes focused on Tanuma. It glanced over at Natsume before focusing on Tanuma.

“Who is this person, Natsume?” Madara asked his eyes still trained on Tanuma.

Natsume relaxed his posture and after a few seconds, so did Tanuma. He walked over to Madara and bent down to pat the cat’s head, surprised by the amount of relief and joy coursing through him at seeing his Sensei’s face.

Natsume saw there were marks and bites and scratches on Madara. His white and orange fur was tainted red with blood on different places. “Sensei!” Natsume lifted up the cat and looked at his body, shocked by the amount of damage he saw. “Are you okay?”

Madara huffed and wiggled out of Natsume’s hold but winced when he fell to the ground, gracefully landing on his paws. “I haven’t fallen so far that I need a human child to worry about me. I will be fine. I just need a few hours of sleep, some fish or sweet-pie buns and I will be back to normal.”

“But, that is not important, what is important is who is that person inhabiting Tanuma’s body?”

Natsume looked at Tanuma who was closely looking at Madara. “That is…” he trailed off.

“I am Kotoh, a Guardian of the forest and while I would enjoy explaining it all to you, I don’t believe this is the right place to do so. Is there somewhere we can go where we won’t be disturbed by…unwanted presences?” Kotoh asked while glancing meaningfully at the forest all around them.

“We can go to my house.” The words were out of Natsume’s mouth before he knew what he was saying.

“Are you sure?” Madara asked turning to stare at Natsume with those slit eyes that never ceased to unnerve him. “What about Touko and her husband? Aren’t you always preaching about how you want to protect them from this and you want to take her –him- it, to your house?”

“I know that.” Natsume snapped at his Sensei. “But I can’t leave Tanuma in that state. He can’t go home to his dad, acting like that and looking like that and we definitely are not going back into school either. My only option is to take him back to my place, have Kotoh explain what happened, and figure out what we’re going to do.” Natsume said with no space for arguments.

He stood up tall and turned to Older-Tanuma. “Is…he alright, Tanuma, is he okay?”

Kotoh nodded. She could clearly see how much the blonde male cared for the other male and she told Tanuma so, feeling how flustered the male became and shaking her head internally at it. ‘ _Humans.’_

“Yes. He is fine.” Kotoh answered and watched as Natsume’s shoulders fell as though he’d been holding a heavy weight and had just gotten it removed. He began looking his age and less like a under developed adult.

“Good.” Natsume looked at his Sensei and saw how the much older spirit was trying to hide his pain but it was obvious whenever he stepped down or tried turning too far. He bent down and gently carried Madara in his arms, being careful to avoid his wounds. “Let’s get out of this forest.”

 

 

Kotoh’s knowledge of the forest and paths through it helped greatly and they managed to leave the forest rather quickly and get to the Fujiwara’s house hold in record timing. Touko was surprised to see Tanuma looking so different but after a few hurried excuses from Natsume she let it go and went into the houses to retrieve the first aid kit for Madara’s injuries. Natsume waited for Touko to finish patching up Madara before going up to his room with the cat cradled in his arms and Tanuma a few steps behind him. He knew the older woman suspected something but unless he _absolutely had no other choice_ , he was not going to tell her and get her and her husband regretting their decision to take him in, no matter what.

He closed the door behind Tanuma and gestured for him to sit down on one of the green cushions laid out on the floor. Natsume sat down as well and continued to hold Madara who shifted occasionally to get comfortable but was mainly focused on Tanuma.

“Okay, you said you would explain everything once we were in a safer place.” Natsume addressed Kotoh.

“Yes I did.”

Natsume waited for some time and Kotoh continued to keep quiet. He quickly understood from the silence that she meant she would answer their questions and try to explain the situation from there.

“What did you do to Tanuma?” He started with the obvious question.

“I did nothing but fuse our spirits together. I want you to know this is not possible unless both parties agree to it wholly. I did not force him to fuse with me. It was his choice.” Kotoh said.

“Why? Why would he agree to it and why did you need to fuse with him?” Natsume asked.

“He agreed to fuse with me because I told him if he did, I would be able to give you back your ‘sight,’” Kotoh said.

“And can you?” Natsume challenged her.

“Yes.” Kotoh answered. “But it will require quite a large amount of magical power, which I, unfortunately, am mildly lacking in.”

“Why is that?”

“Because…” Kotoh took some time to answer Natsume’s question that he repeated it once more. “I am a guardian of the forest but I am not alone in this. We are five Guardians and we all protect different parts and areas of the forest. I am to the Earth area. I balance the living and the dead, the Yokai’s and the animals that live in the forest. But some time back, an incident occurred with one of the other Guardians that left the forest rather…unstable, giving way for more dangerous things to come through and grow stronger as they stayed in the forest. One of those dangerous things was the Yokai that took your eyes. It was originally living off almost decaying plants but since the forest became unstable, it changed its form and developed to be taking something far more precious than decaying plants. It grows stronger every day and without my power being at full capacity, I cannot purify it and return what it took.”

“That was why you needed Tanuma.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.

“Yes.” Kotoh affirmed.

“Why did you choose Tanuma? He isn’t the strongest and doesn’t have high magical abilities, so why him? You could have chosen someone like Natsume.” Madara spoke up for the first time since they arrived.

“I choose him because he isn’t powerful.” Kotoh replied.

“What?” Natsume and Madara echoed together.

“If he was as powerful as Natsume, there was a high chance of our powers clashing together and fighting till one of us died but since he wasn’t powerful and his powers were relatively calm, the fusion went rather smoothly.”Kotoh said.

“How do you know about the Yuujinchou?” Madara asked. His voice was deadly serious.

“Any high-ranking Yokai should know about the Yuujinchou.” Kotoh replied.

“Yes, but that is not what I’m asking. What I am asking is how you specifically know of it.” Madara said.

“One of the other Guardians met Reiko and played a game with her. The deal was if she lost, he could eat her but if she won, she’d write his name in her ‘Book of Friends. She lost but the Guardian was kind and didn’t eat her. He told her to come and visit him again. And she did. And then at one visit, she appeared with a book and gave it to him. He saw what it was and refused to keep the book, in fear of it getting stolen or misplaced. They had a quarrel over it and the next day, she didn’t come and the one after that till the Guardian understood that she was never going to come back to see him again.” Kotoh said. “He told me this when he learned of her death.”

“Reiko tried giving up the Yuujinchou?” Natsume asked no one in particular. He couldn’t believe his grandmother would try to hand over something as important and valuable as the Yuujinchou to someone, even if he was a Guardian of the forest.

“As always, she’s still as reckless.” Madara said with a tone of fondness in his voice. “And so,” His voice returned to neutrality, “What do you want from us?”

“I want your assistance in restoring balance to the forest. It needs to be balanced and soon or else, things that are right will become wrong and things that were already wrong will become much worse.” Kotoh said to them.

“And how will that be done?” Natsume asked with a tinge of apprehension in his voice.

“After my powers are fully restored and all the Guardians are assembled.” Kotoh began, “We will purify the entire forest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yeah, i used Google Translate for the translation so if i made mistakes, forgive me for them and blame Google XD


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let me explain.

This isn't the update (I'm sorry to those who opened this and thought it was the chapter) but it is coming today. I know I took freaking forever to do it, but school, lack of inspiration and soap operas (I know right), got me and I hadn't written it till last week Sunday, and yes I know it's a whole week later but I was supposed to post it as early as yesterday but I didn't and I apologize and I should have posted it now but I just realized I hadn't sent the file to my phone so I could post it and that is why there is this lengthy explanation. Main point of this is, I am going to post it today in a few hours, so look forward to it and it's a pretty lengthy one in apology for how long I took.

 

 

> Forgive me and please comment, flames or no flames, your opinion matters to me
> 
>  
> 
> UPDATE: I have bad news. When I went to copy the file from my laptop and post it, I found part of it had been corrupted and is missing.  Therefore I have to re write the chapter again. However, I should be done with it by tomorrow, if you would be patient enough to wait, I promise it will come.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the wait, but finally, finally, the 9th chapter is done and awaiting your reviews. I know it's not good but I'll try to make the next one better, and thank you for your patience. Without anymore wait, here's the 9th chapter of Lost Eyes, enjoy!

“She’s still as reckless, as always,” Madara said with a tone of fondness in his voice. “And so,” His voice reformed into a tone that was far less kind.“What do you want from us?”

“I want your assistance in restoring balance to the forest.” The woman said. “Balance needs to be restored soon. If not done sooner rather than later, things will become much worse than they already are.”

"And how will that be done? Restoring the balance, I mean, how do we do that?” Natsume asked. His voice held a faint tinge of apprehension and nervousness.

“After my abilities are restored to their maximum capacity,” She said, “And the Guardians are assembled, then, we will be able to purify the forest.”

Natsume was sceptic. The way Kotoh said it sounded far too simple for a task of such great importance. “How will you do that? I mean if the Guardians are scattered throughout the forest, and your abilities aren’t at maximum capability, how will you regain your power and cleanse the forest?”

“Natsume’s right.” Madara said. “If,” He put heavy emphasis on the ‘if’, “we were to help you purify the forest, what are we supposed to do? At this moment, Natsume can’t see any Yokai and therefore cannot assist you in the process or even keep watch. What you are saying and asking for sounds too unbelievable.”

Tanuma’s face looked displeased. His eyes had an unpleasant look to them and the corners of his mouth pointed downwards. “It doesn’t matter whether you believe me or not, fat pig.” It was Tanuma’s voice he was hearing, but Kotoh spoke with such venom that Natsume was taken aback. For a second there, Natsume could swear Tanuma’s voice had deepened in pitch. It hadn’t sounded like Tanuma at all.

“What matters is restoring balance to the forest.” Kotoh said, “Do you not understand that?”

“If the balance remains the way it is, unstable and weak, it will not be long before the Yokai begin terrorizing humans. In their schools, in their homes anywhere they can find humans, they will attack. Yokai attacks on the human world will increase to a higher number and after they are done with simple tricks and minor disturbances and they realize they can do worse, they will not hesitate to do so.” Kotoh looked back and forth between Natsume and Madara, trying to appeal to the two males and make them understand the crisis she –which they all faced.

“I understand that, Kotoh, and I want to help but how do we help?” Natsume tried to be gentle with his words. The last thing he wanted to do was anger the Guardian, thanks to his lack of respect. Natsume understood there was a crisis and his world and the spirit world were in danger, but how was he to help when he couldn’t even see the spirits threatening his world, threatening his kind and was yet to understand them?

“The Guardians, we need to find them first. It would be better if all five were gathered, but I suppose two would be enough to restore my powers. Then we can gather the remaining three and together, all of us Guardians, we can restore the balance of the forest and do what we were made to do.” Kotoh explained and Natsume thought her words over in his mind.

There were far too many questions that he had. “How do we find them? Is there a shrine or altar, like the Yokais’ have, that we can look for?” Natsume’s thinking was to find the remaining Guardians. If they were the ones with enough power to return whatever amount of magic Kotoh lacked, it would be consequential to find them before doing anything else.

“Yes and no.” She said. Before Natsume could ask what she meant, she began explaining. “They do not have altars or shrines like lesser spirits,” She glanced over at Madara and the cat hissed back at her. “But they are similar to such.”

“They are carved into the trees.” She said casually, almost off-handily, as if it was natural for spirits to be carved in trees.

Natsume was sure he had heard wrong. “Carved into trees?” He repeated and he pleaded mentally for the woman’s vagueness to cease. He didn’t know or understand half of the things she was telling them and the way she spoke made him feel foolish for not knowing such things. He didn’t like it.

“Yes.” Kotoh affirmed his question and made no move to explain further. Natsume, slightly frustrated, had to press the woman for more answers than a single ‘yes’. He took some time before he pressed her for answers. The words formed in his mind but none of them fully portrayed what he wanted to know.

“What do you mean?” He settled on starting there. “Are the Guardians sigils carved into the tree or…?” “No. We, Guardians, are quite literally living in the trees.” Kotoh answered and her answer made Natsume hesitate. His mind had processed what she was saying, but Natsume was having a hard time believing it. It was impossible to consider six Guardians –the same size or even bigger- inside a tree, inside six different trees.

“You mean to say…you and the other Guardians come from the trees?” Natsume asked his voice hesitant and slow.

“Not from all the trees but from certain specific ones, yes we do.” “For many centuries, the Guardians have been living inside those specific trees. We do not know or question how we came to be there.” “All we do know is that we emerged from them. The trees are our birthplace, our homes.” Kotoh said and there was something in her voice that sounded familiar. It sounded like… longing.

Natsume couldn’t overlook what Kotoh had said. “Why would you not question that? That is something of incredible importance. How can you not wonder where you came from? Who you might have been before? If you had some family and they were out there looking for you? How can you not wonder about any of that?”

Tanuma’s eyes blinked and darted to the side. His head cocked slightly to the side and he looked directly at Natsume, those obsidian eyes filled with confusion. “Why would I do any of that? I don’t understand. I was made for a reason and that reason is to protect the forest and all living things inside of it. Where I came from or who I was in the past are of no importance to me. I am only here to carry out my duty as a Guardian.”

Natsume’s heart felt heavy in his chest. He couldn’t explain what he felt in detail but it felt –overwhelmingly- like…pity. He knew Kotoh was right and what she was doing was simply her job but… the thought of a young girl or boy, desperately asking strangers if they had seen Kotoh and wishing for her to come back home saddened him greatly.

He sighed heavily and chose to let the thought and the topic go. It wouldn’t help anyone if he got emotional and let his feelings cloud his thinking. Instead, he turned back to the Guardians living quarters. “So, at this very moment, there is a tree, somewhere in the forest, with a Guardian living inside of it?”

Kotoh nodded once, a sharp and quick movement Natsume was sure he’d miss had he not been looking directly at his classmate. She was about to speak but was cut off by the obese feline before she could even open her mouth.

"That’s great and all, but there is something you haven’t realized, She-Tanuma.” Madara spoke up for the first time in a while. Natsume startled slightly. He had almost forgotten about the powerful Yokai’s presence in his room.

“And what is it I have failed to realize, pig?” Kotoh turned to Madara with pure disdain shining in Tanuma’s cerulean eyes.

“The Guardians are in a forest and forests have thousands of trees. How will we find that one tree that is different from the rest?” Madara informed them. “Is there a special light that lights up if another Guardian comes close? Will the tree’s sap begin flowing in copious amounts if you come close to it?” Madara asked mockingly.

"Stop being rude Sensei.” Natsume warned. Madara huffed but got to his point. “How do we tell the difference between the tree confining your Guardian and any other tree?”

“How dare you! It is not confinement! The trees do not confine us!” Kotoh argued angrily and Natsume felt the tension in his room soar. He feared a fight would break out between the two spirits and he did not want that to happen anywhere near the Fujiwaras’. Their safety was his first priority.

“They are our birth place! They protect us!” Kotoh continued angrily. “I will not tolerate such rude remarks on our homes, pig.” Kotoh threatened.

Natsume, fearing Kotoh would keep to her word, turned to his Sensei. “Stop it, sensei.” He warned again. “Don’t provoke her.”

Madara huffed once more and turned away, his slit eyes narrowing in suspicion and focusing on Kotoh’s every move. He still didn't trust Kotoh and he was confused as to why Natsume did. So far, the woman hadn't given them any reason to trust her. All she had given was a load of possible half-truths. Madara had the sudden remainder of Natori Shuuichi. Incredibly shady and untrustworthy.

Natsume turned back to Kotoh and asked, “How he said it wasn’t the best way but he is right, Kotoh. How do we find that specific tree?”

Kotoh threw another malice-filled glare at Madara before turning to address the blonde haired male. She was about to speak but the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs and heading in their general direction cut her off. She notified the blonde male and both looked at the door; waiting to see who it was that interrupted their conversation

The door slid aside to reveal the old, dark-haired woman she had barely seen downstairs in Natsume’s haste to hide Tanuma’s new appearance. The elderly woman smiled kindly at him and Kotoh heard Tanuma’s voice in her head whispering to be kind to the old woman.

Tanuma's lips slowly pulled back in a small smile and the old woman’s smile grew even wider at the sight. “Ara, Takashi-kun, it’s getting late, shouldn’t you be in bed? School is tomorrow.” She said, her voice soft and kind, not quite abolishing either male for staying up longer than was necessary on a school night.

“You as well, Tanuma,” She turned to Tanuma, her face ever kind and sweet. “I suppose you’re staying over tonight.” Kotoh nodded. “Does your father know that you’re here?” Kotoh felt her head move up and down again in affirmation.

“Yes. He isn’t around and he didn’t want me to be alone so he said it was okay if I stayed with Natsume till he came back from his trip.” Tanuma was the one speaking. And Natsume could tell, if the glance thrown their way was anything to go by, the boy could tell those weren’t Kotoh’s words but Tanuma’s.

The old lady nodded. “Ah, I see.” Offering the dark-haired boy a smile, she said. “Well, you are always welcome here, Tanuma-kun. I’ll leave you boys to get ready for bed.” With another smile, she bid them goodnight and left, the sliding door shutting softly behind her.

“Touko-san is right. It’s gotten rather late. We better get some rest.” Natsume stood and went over to his cupboard. He withdrew two white and thick medium-sized bundles and placed them down by his feet. He shut the cupboard and began unrolling the bundles and arranging them on the floor next to each other. After doing so, he went back to the cupboard and removed two pillows and an extra blanket. He set them down at the head of the white mats and carefully placed the extra blanket on top of one of the white mats –the one closer to the window.

“We can continue talking about finding the Guardians tomorrow. For now, we need to sleep and regain our strength.” Natsume said as he gestured for Kotoh to climb into the white mats. He climbed into the one closest to the window and rested his head on the pillow, watching as Kotoh tentatively stood up and repeated what he did, pulling back the blanket, climbing in and resting her head on the pillow.

Natsume was about to tell her goodnight but turned and found the Guardian had already fallen asleep. He chuckled softly so as to not wake her and closed his eyes after instructing his Sensei to turn off the lights when he was coming to sleep.

The plump cat did so a few minutes later and waddled over to Natsume’s bed, clambering on top and resting comfortably on the boy’s abdomen, Madara followed the two males into slumber.

 

 

The following morning found Natsume sleeping peacefully in his futon. The futon beside his was empty, and there was no sign of Madara sleeping on his stomach.

The blonde male slept for a few more moments before abruptly opening his eyes and looking directly at the ceiling. He blinked a few times and tried recalling what had happened the day before. His drowsiness turned into panic and he turned to the empty futon next to him, his panic rising to new levels when he saw it unoccupied.

Throwing back his covers and getting out of bed, Natsume was about to run downstairs and look for the darker-haired male when the sound of laughter and voices chatting downstairs filtered through his opened door. He exited his room and stood in the hallway, straining his ears to pick up pieces of the conversation down below.

He only managed to get, ‘Business trip’ and ‘traveling’, the rest was all gibberish to his ears. Natsume figured they were discussing Tanuma’s father’s business trips. He sighed and let his head hang between his slim shoulders. He hadn’t noticed how tense he had become when he found Tanuma’s bed empty. Hearing their voices chatting amicably downstairs hadn’t helped ease his tension. It had rather added to it and made it worse.

Thankfully, they weren’t discussing something unnecessary –like Tanuma’s new appearance- and their discussion of Tanuma’s father would be enough time for him to clean his room and get ready for school. Lifting his head, Natsume released his grip on the staircase and went to do so.

 

Moments later, Natsume descended the steps, dressed and ready for school. He went into the kitchen and dining area and found Touko-san at the stove cooking up breakfast and Nyanko-sensei was beside her feet. Shigeru-san was sitting in his usual seat with a newspaper in his hands and Tanuma was sitting to his right, casually chatting to the two adults.

Touko was the first to see him and after greeting him, she shooed him off to his seat with the promise of breakfast coming soon. Natsume sat down facing the young male and noticed the clothing was different to the one of yesterday. But the clothing wasn’t the only thing different about the blue-haired male. His appearance had also changed. It looked cleaner, fresher…neater than it had yesterday. The young male had probably showered and dressed in his spare uniform for school.

Natsume was distracted from further thoughts on Tanuma’s appearance when Touko-san placed a steaming hot bowl of rice, stew and a plate with fish before him. The delicious smell wafted to his nose and made his stomach grumble heavily.

Natsume, in all the haste of yesterday’s actions, had failed to notice how hungry he was and had gone to sleep without a second thought of his hunger. Hearing his stomach grumble brought him to the realization that he was starving and he didn’t hesitate –after giving thanks- to dig in with Tanuma following in his footsteps.

Touko-san chuckled at the sight of two teenage boys devouring her food and after giving thanks, she too began eating but at a more considerable pace. Shigeru folded his newspaper and put it aside before also giving thanks and eating his wife’s food. He complimented her for the taste and smiled softly when Touko blushed slightly.

Due to their speed, Tanuma and Natsume finished their food earlier than the married couple and were excused to leave for school. Natsume went back upstairs into his bedroom to grab his bag and two sweaters before running downstairs and out the door. He found Tanuma waiting for him in front of his house gate and his Sensei was casually relaxing in the early morning sun close to the dark-haired boy’s feet.

Natsume folded and left the sweaters in his bag and walked over to the other male. He stopped when he was a few feet ahead of Tanuma and said to him. “We’re not going to school.”

Tanuma’s eyebrow rose. “I thought you said we were.”

Natsume shook his head. “No, that was a lie.”

He began walking, heading down the road that led him to school. “I can’t have anyone else seeing you looking like that, it’s too obvious and would cause suspicion.”

Tanuma followed behind the blonde male and walked in tandem with him; the fat feline waddling next to his feet. “You realize I can disguise my appearance, right? That was how I hid from your relatives and they did not notice anything was amiss.”

“I figured that out, but it’s still too risky. I can’t risk anything happening to Tanuma’s school life because of you.” He didn’t mean for the words to come out harshly. He just wanted Kotoh to understand how risky it would be if they went to school and someone noticed Tanuma wasn’t quite Tanuma. If it happened, it would be come too complicated for both of them.

“Besides, we have to go find the Guardians.” The blonde said. “The balance has to be restored quickly and we don’t have much time. The sooner we begin, the better our chances are of finding them.”

Tanuma nodded. “Yes, you are right. We best make haste before the sun goes down.” The blonde agreed and picked up his pace; letting Kotoh lead them down the road towards the path they had used and into the forest.

He was uneasy, nervous and a bit excited, but he understood his emotions did not matter. What mattered was that they find the Guardians as soon as possible. For if they didn’t, Natsume feared the current state of the forest would worsen and he didn’t know by how much. He couldn’t handle that uncertainty. Especially since it involved the lives and safety of those he loved.

Glancing at Tanuma walking a few steps ahead of him, Natsume wondered if he would ever talk or see Tanuma again, his Tanuma, the real, kind and honest Tanuma that he remembered.

Natsume hoped he would. Natsume prayed and hoped and wished for a number of things but in that moment, he wished, prayed and hoped for Tanuma’s well-being and safety.  
  



	11. Chapter 11

The trio walked in silence and Natsume couldn't fill the silence because he had nothing to say, and he didn't know what to say. He could ask question Kotoh some more, but he doubted it was the right time. The female Guardian had gotten oddly quiet and had barely done much other than lead them down the path. She had kept to herself and Natsume didn't know if it was right to bother her. After all, they were walking to free (Natsume decided on that instead of, 'release' or 'save' or 'rescue'. They didn't quite portray what they were going to do.) her fellow Guardian and walking down the path, remembering her companions, must have brought all sorts of memories for her. Natsume couldn't begin to imagine how she must be feeling.

"Ahh..." Madara groaned loudly. He stopped and took a breather, moving on to a tree with a thick trunk and resting his back on it, heavy pants exhaling from his mouth and sweat sticking to his forehead. "I can't go on. I need to rest."

Natsume sighed exasperatedly and squatted down to the cat's level. "Sensei, this is the third time you've stopped. We won't be able to make it back home in time at this rate. Please get yourself together."

Kotoh paused and looked over Tanuma's shoulder at the duo. Normally she would have said something snarky, but she did and said nothing and simply waited silently for the two to finish up.

Madara panted heavily, reaching one paw up to dramatically hold it over his chest. "My heart's beating so fast, I'm gonna die." He looked up at Natsume and continued with the theatrics. "Natsume, this is it. This is when I die. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from Kotoh. You'll have to go on without me."

Natsume rolled his eyes and stood up tall, turning away, he walked over to where Kotoh was waiting with a blank expression on Tanuma's face and his arms crossed. "Got it. We'll go on without you. See you later, Sensei." He lifted his arm up in a back wave and walked past Kotoh, the woman barely hesitating before falling in step with him.

"Hey! Don't leave me here! Hey! Natsume!" Madara yelled, suddenly energetic and up on his paws. He ran after the two and complained loudly to Natsume. The blond boy simply laughed and dug inside his bag for a water bottle. He had learned to carry one whenever he alone or him and Madara were going out. The plump cat refused to drink any liquid that wasn't alcohol and that left Natsume forcefully hydrating the fat cat every two hours. He opened it and gave it to the cat, pausing mid-step and waiting till the cat had drank is fill before taking it and recapping it and putting it away.

Natsume was about to say something but was cut off by Tanuma.

"We're almost there." The teenage boy walked past Natsume and Madara and continued for a while before turning left and pausing mid-step. He looked around at the sky-scraping trees and held a hand for them to stop. It seemed whatever it was Kotoh had picked up, Madra had as well for the beast began growling threateningly. He followed Kotoh's eyes and looked at the trees, searching for something Natsume wasn't sure if it even existed.

"What?" he asked, frantically looking between Madara and Tanuma. "What is it? What do you see?"

"There's something in the trees. I don't know what it is, but it is not here for a chat." Madara answered, still looking between the trees and emitting a warning growl.

"What should we do then? Run?"

"No." It was Kotoh. She held a hand on Natsume's wrist to stop the male from considering running away. "We're close. It's just past this clearing. There is no way I am letting you leave now."

"Okay..." The other boy had begun hurting him and Natsume slowly extracted his hand back from Tanuma's grip. "It was a suggestion. I wasn't going to do it. I wasn't going to leave, Kotoh."

Kotoh didn't reply and instead continued walking, Madara following after a few moments and Natsume following after him. It seemed whatever threat they had both seen or sensed wasn't as dangerous as they had thought it was. Or it simply went away. Natsume would prefer it if it was the former and not the latter. He know from experience that things never really went away, no matter how hard you wish for them to.

 

 

"Stop." Kotoh said. "It's here."

Where 'here' was Natsume couldn't really say. It looked almost like the clearing where he had found Kotoh and Tanuma but it was different. It looked different and...felt different. It felt like something powerful laid in that clearing, and Natsume could practically feel the earth beneath his soles vibrating and the hair on his body stood on edge. There was some sort of energy, some power in that clearing and Natsume was getting addicted to the feel of it on his skin. He wanted more. He wanted more. He wanted his skin to sing with joy at having that energy, that power course through his body. He wanted that power, no, he needed it.

Before he realized what he was doing, Natsume was already moving towards the strongest point of that energy. He walked on, ignoring his Sensei's calls and continuing toward the first tree directly in front of the path. The tree was singing, calling out Natsume's name and begging him to come closer and closer. He did, walking closer and closer, his hand stretching out till there were a mere feet in between him and his blessed tree.

A hand grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled it away from the tree, the grip breaking Natsume's trance and making him look up at the hand grasping his.  "What...was I doing?"

 "You were about to touch the tree," Kotoh said, releasing Natsume's hand and placing herself between the tree and Natsume.

"I don't get it. What's wrong about touching it? It's just a tree." Natsume was slowly coming back to his senses and those senses were screaming for him to move away from that tree. He didn't understand what was going on. One moment ago, he'd wanted nothing more than to touch that tree, and then now he didn't want to be anywhere near it. It didn't make sense.

"It's not just a tree, Natsume. It's the tree. It's their tree." That was Tanuma speaking. "The other Guardian is inside that tree."

Natsume's eyes widened comically. He looked between Tanuma and the tree housing the second Guardian needed to clear the forest. "Then why was it calling me? Why did it sound so..." He lacked the words to describe the feeling the tree had inspired in him. It was nothing he had felt before.

"Pleasing? So heavenly?" Kotoh supplied and let out a bitter chuckle. "That's what it does to humans. To protect itself and the Guardians inside."

"It lures humans closer? How is that protecting the Guardian or the tree?"

"Because," Kotoh fixed him with a dead look. "If humans touch the tree unknowingly, they lose control of their minds. The tree scrambles the frequency inside the brain and turns humans into...something you'd be better off not seeing."

Natsume's jaw fell open. That was absolutely horrible. "How can it do that? Why do you let it do that? That's horrible!"

Kotoh looked away. "We have to protect ourselves. It's the only way."

"No! There has to be another way! You can't go around scrambling people's brains and turning them into...into...carcasses of what they were!" Natsume stumbled to find the words to convey how disturbed he was.

"We have no other choice! Don't you get that!?" Kotoh suddenly exploded, rounding on Natsume with lava boiling in her eyes and in her voice. "You humans ruin everything you touch! You don't care about anyone but yourselves! How are we supposed to stay completely defenseless when there's a chance any one of you can just cut us down and ruin everything we've worked for!?"

Natsume took a step back. He didn't have an answer to Kotoh's question because he knew what she was saying was right. Even if he didn't want to harm the Guardians and all they stood for, he couldn't stay the same for his fellow humans. Anyone could walk in and decide cutting away the forest would be a good idea in replacement of a mall or a housing building or another branch of some multi-million dollar fast food chain. Natsume had no words to defend those people. He knew they didn't deserve to have their brains scrambled, no one did, but...he couldn't say anything in their -human race as a whole- defense.

Kotoh turned away and took a few deep breaths, calming down with every exhale till she was more collected and less volatile. "I will get the other Guardian out. Stand back."

She moved towards the tree and just as she was about to touch the rough bark, Natsume spoke up. "Wait! Tanuma is human, won't his brain get scrambled if you touch the tree?"

Kotoh paused but didn't turn around. "I suppose we'll have to see, won't we."

"Wait!" Natsume yelled out but it was too late. Kotoh's hand touched the tree, and Natsume watched as the young woman was swallowed by the tree, leaving Natsume and Madara alone in the forest.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tanuma's point of view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to stop leaving you guys hanging.
> 
> Dedicated to all of you who made this story almost 2K hits!! THANK YOU SO MUCH

Tanuma woke up alone in the middle of a lush, green forest. He opened his eyes blearily and waited patiently for his eyes to get adjusted to the bright morning light. Once they did, Tanuma looked around and was taken aback.

The lush forest was filled with trees as high up as the eye could see, their branches thick and strong and the leaves a dazzling, vibrant green that hurt Tanuma’s eyes to look at for a long period of time. The tall trees were encompassed by small, just as green shrubs and bushes. The flowers that sprouted from the bushes and shrubs were a colorful blend of white, yellow, pink and red that contrasted marvelously with the vibrant green and made it stand out all the more.

It was a paradise.

Tanuma had been so enamored by the beautiful sight that, he almost forgot his reason for being there and how he got there. Tanuma remembered vaguely; Kotoh touching the tree and Natsume worrying about his possibly low survival chance. He also remembered being swallowed by a tree and the comforting, almost sad feeling that washed over him before he blacked out and woke up in the luscious, alone with no Kotoh or fellow Guardian in sight.

Tanuma’s momentary peace brought upon the gorgeous sight, abated and he felt panic and fear slowly creep in. The forest’s beauty had surprised him and had distracted him from the real obstacle at hand, but remembering what had occurred moments ago brought him back to the harsh reality of being alone in an unknown surrounding.

_‘Where is Kotoh?’_

Tanuma had also been distracted from the emptiness that resounded heavily inside of him, like there was a large, important piece missing from deep inside him. He didn’t fully understand it till he called the woman’s name in his head and received no response.

Usually, whenever Tanuma was in charge of his real body and Kotoh was the one taking a back seat and observing, he would call out her name in his mind and she would reply, albeit grudgingly. But now, after calling her name over a dozen times, Tanuma received no response and was only left with his thoughts.

Which meant, either Kotoh was ignoring him which Tanuma knew could be plausible, or she was gone.

The last thought sent a disturbing blend of fear and relief through him.

Tanuma felt bad for feeling relieved that Kotoh was gone, but he couldn’t even deny it. After days of not being in charge of his body or mind, suddenly getting sole control made him exalted, relieved and satisfied. The fear, however, arose from the realization that he was in a foreign land with no power to speak of, any method of contacting help and there was not a single soul in sight whom Tanuma could trust. He was basically defenseless, a sitting duck awaiting slaughter.

The bushes to his left rustled and Tanuma turned his body towards the source. He held his breath and waited to see what sort of enemy he would be facing when a white, fluffy bunny with bright ruby red eyes jumped out and looked at him curiously, cocking its head to the side, the bunny cutely brought its paws up and rubbed at the adorable pink nose.

Tanuma let out a sigh of relief, and placed a hand over his heart, chuckling slightly at the way his heart was pounding erratically in his chest.

“Its just a bunny, Tanuma. No need to be so scared.” He chided himself gently and pulled himself to his feet, utterly unaware of the shadow creeping up behind him.

He went over to the bunny slowly so as to not startle it and held out his hands, his fingers snapping gently and rubbing against each other softly. “Come here, its okay, I won’t hurt you.”

The bunny looked at his hands and face warily before hopping closer and sniffing at his fingers and making a laguh escape from Tanuma. The bunny came even closer and let Tanuma scratch it behind the ears, lifting its chin up, the bunny’s nose twitched and made Tanuma laugh again.

Enamored by the adorable animal, Tanuma didn’t sense the person creeping up behind him till it was too late.

 

* * *

 

 

“What’s taking them so long?” Natsume had gotten tired of pacing an hour prior and had sat down on the root of one gigantic tree.

His Sensei had also gotten tired of watching Natsume pace and had closed his eyes, turned away from the blonde boy, and took a nap. Natsume, from the way Madara had turned away and let his furry back face him, didn’t know that and continued talking assuming that his Sensei was listening instead of dozing off.

“Shouldn’t they be back by now?" Worry gnawed on Natsume’s insides and made him feel like vomiting. It had been three hours since Natsume had last seen Kotoh and Tanuma, and through those rather lengthy hours, Natsume’s mind hadn’t stopped conjuring horrific images of Tanuma mutilated and dead. "What if something went wrong, and they're in danger?"

Natsume berated his mind repeatedly, but couldn’t stop the images, the thoughts, or the chilly grip of fear around his heart, making his palms sweat and his mind wander. Natsume knew, considering all the things he went through and all the friends, -Yokai and human- , he’d made along the way that he would have been able to try trusting people, but his past experiences were to blame for how anxious and scared he was.

He tried to reassure himself by thinking of Kotoh's strength. Natsume didn’t doubt the woman's strength for a second, and he was well aware of her loyalty to her troublesome cause, but her absolute loyalty was part of what made him so nervous. He and Tanuma were simple bystanders who'd accidentally got involved of power and stability belonging to a -surprisingly- powerful forest that they didn’t bear any loyalty or devotion to either side.

The loyalty and devotion Natsume and Tanuma held were for their friends and family, to the people who care for them and continuously  protect them, and Natsume feared Kotoh wouldn’t see that as enough and would throw away Tanuma once his purpose had been fulfilled.

Such dark thoughts filled his mind and gradually increased in the bleak color till Natsume stood from the root and began pacing once more in attempts to distract himself. He began playing with his fingers as he paced and sent a quick prayer for his friend. _  
_

 

_‘Please, God, keep Tanuma safe. I beg you.’_

 

* * *

 

 

Tanuma, for the second time that day, found himself in an unknown surrounding. The navy-haired male opened his eyes and looked at where he was. The first thing he noticed, as he tried to rub his forehead from an incoming headache, was that he’d been tied up.

Tanuma woke up very quickly after that. Tied up people meant they were a danger or a threat to other inhabitants of a land or area, and Tanuma was a hundred percent sure he was not a danger or a threat to the living forms, but how was he going to assure whomever it was that tied him that he wasn’t a threat when his mouth had also been bound by a piece of dirt, salt? and something bitter Tanuma couldn’t identify.

He tried to speak, but the sound was muffled and distorted by the gag in his mouth and came out as ‘mmmmhff’ instead of what he truly meant to say.

Tanuma tried wriggling his hands and ankles free from the bond but he stopped soon after. The rope had been wrapped and knotted twice around his wrists and Tanuma figured the same had been done to his ankles, effectively preventing any attempts at an escape. If he tried, he would end up breaking something vital in his body, and that didn't sound overly pleasant to Tanuma's ears.

Tanuma’s only way out was if someone were to untie him, and he doubted help would be coming his way anytime soon.

 

* * *

 

 

Tanuma’s arms had quickly gotten tired of being stretched high above his head, and tied to a thick branch on one of the trees Tanuma had previously marveled and admired. Now, he wanted to be able to snap one of their thick branches and free himself before his kidnapper returned.

His desire was squashed rather quickly when footsteps approaching alerted him of his abductor’s return. Tanuma tried putting on a brave face and believed he’d succeeded but it didn't manage to convince the man holding him hostage against his will.

“Woah, don’t look so scared. I’m not going to eat you,” His abductor paused and sent a feral grin in Tanuma’s direction. “Yet.”

Tanuma successfully fought back a shudder and kept his body relatively still.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?” Tanuma demanded and ignored the way his voice cracked in the beginning.

“Who I am is not important," The man dismissed Tanuma's question with a wave of his hand, "but who _you_ are certainly is.” The man said and in the blink of an eye, he stood before Tanuma, leaving only a few inches apart from one another, completely unlike the several paces originally between them.

Tanuma got a closer look at the man’s features, and was heavily disturbed by the confliction brought about by the mesmerizing, yet incredibly lethal look his abductor had.

The male had thin finely shaped eyebrows that framed his face but was partially obscured by his long, dark grey hair. The long locks parted at the top of his head and nearly fell over his right eye and down to his ear while part of it was tucked behind his left ear, exposing striking light-green eyes. The man shifted slightly and Tanuma’s ears picked up on a slight jingle emanating from the man’s ears. It seemed like he wore earrings.

His abductor had two long, nearly-shoulder length, dark brown earrings and wore a fitting, sleeveless adjusted bodice. The cloth ran from his neck and down through his chest to his waist. The cloth was black in color and was fitted so tightly over his upper body that Tanuma wondered how he or the hadn’t exploded yet. The adjusted bodice ran close to his nipples and scarcely covered the small nubs, but exposed the man’s finely toned arms, his ribs and showed his well-defined abdomen. His lower half was encompassed by a light reddish brown Japanese hakama.

The man cocked his head to the side and intensely searched Tanuma’s face, for what, Tanuma didn’t know, but he hoped he lacked it. Tanuma hated how weak and whimpering his thoughts sounded but he had to face reality. What could he do against someone so obviously powerful? His lack of magical power really hit home at times like this. Unlike Natsume who could talk his way out or ask for Ponta’s help, he had low social skills and had no one to rely on.

“Tanuma,” He suddenly said, disrupting whatever fixation the man had on his face, and making him focus on the words coming out of Tanuma's mouth. “My name is Tanuma Kaname, and I’m a high school student at Kanawa High School.”

The man's surprise was evident, and Tanuma smiled slightly. Thinking  about his weakness and despising his lack of strength would be of no help to anyone, and would only manage to make Tanuma depressed and irritated, emotions that were of no use in his situation. Tanuma refused to be pessimistic, when Natsume waited for him on the other side of this heavenly paradise. He refused to become a weak and simpering child, when there were people in the world who had larger problems and faced them each day bravely.  Tanuma chose to follow in their footsteps and be brave. Even if it meant this oddly dressed man would devour him; Tanuma wasn’t going to let his weakness define his personality. 

This time when Tanuma put on a brave face; it was honest and not a facade, or poor imitation like the last one had been.

The man recovered and one shapely brow rose, which was quickly swallowed by the mass of hair covering his forehead.

“I wasn’t expecting that, Tanuma Kaname.” He moved back a few inches and Tanuma relaxed slightly. “So, tell me Tanuma Kaname, why are you here, and how did you get here?" "This place isn’t for humans.”

The swordsman may have tried to conceal it, but Tanuma picked up on the distaste when he mentioned humans, which was a glaring clue for Tanuma to tread lightly. A single misunderstanding could mean the end of his life.

“I came here through the forest neighboring my school.” Tanuma said,

The man’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “That’s not an answer, Kaname.  A forest couldn't have led you here." He snapped, his eyes flashing dangerously. "How did you get here and why?" He repeated threateningly, "Don’t make me force the answer out of you. You won’t like it.”

“I..." Tanuma hesitated, "-didn’t come here. A woman brought me here.”He relented and told the man a small part of what had happened, and the events that led to him entering a tree and emerging in an another world.

Panic flashed through the man’s eyes. “Which woman? Where is she?”

“I don’t know." Tanuma would have shrugged, but the rope biting into his wrists held him still.  "When I woke up, she wasn’t there with me. I don’t know where she went.”

“This woman,” He paused over ‘woman’, “Who is she? And how was she able to bring you both in here?”

Tanuma hesitated and the man quickly pounced onto it. “Speak up, Kaname. Or I will have to hurt you.”

Tanuma didn’t want to betray Kotoh or Natsume’s trust in him and kept his mouth shut, even if the queerly dressed male broke his fingers or ribs, Tanuma refused to betray his friends’ trust. 

“Fine.” The man saw Tanuma's resolve wasn't wavering and backed off. He changed his tactic, and tried attacking from another angle. “What did she want from here?”

“A person,” Tanuma said after a pause, “We came here looking for someone important.”

“Who?” He asked, and was received by a long silence.

The man sighed, “I suppose we are doing this the hard way.” He looked up at Tanuma and said, “I hope you remember this is entirely your fault. If you had just told me, I wouldn’t have had to do this.”

Tanuma’s blood stopped in his veins, and he grew very cold despite the warm sunshine beating down on his skin. “What do you plan to do?” The very least he could do was stall.

The man didn’t answer but came close to Tanuma, one hand outstretched and reaching for Tanuma’s head.

“Hey! What,” Tanuma tried futilely to jerk his head back but the thick trunk prevented such an attempt. “do you plan to do!?”

Just like Tanuma, the man didn’t answer and he got close enough for his fingers to lightly brush Tanuma’s forehead.

“Get away!” Tanuma thrashed and writhed to the best of his situation but the man held on and dug his fingers painfully into Tanuma’s temples. Tanuma winced and he felt a trickle of blood ran down his face and pool on his chin before dropping to the ground.

“Stay still,” The man held Tanuma’s chin still with his other hand, “The more you move, the more it’ll hurt.”

Tanuma was about to yell at the man when his nails dug deeper into his skin and all went black.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natsume and Madara follow in after Kotoh and Tanuma, fear and worry driving Natsume to charge in headfirst after Tanuma, and come head to head with Tanuma's abductor, who seems to know his name!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i forgot to say this in the last chapter but, Kanawa is a made up name and not the actual name of the school Natsume and Tanuma attend. Wiki didn't say anything about their school name so I had to make it up, but if the name actually exist, please inform me. 
> 
> Uh....I got a beta now, and she's amazing so, this chapter is edited wonderfully by my friend, @frostyflower02
> 
> For you all who made a stupid little prompt get to 2000 hits, THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!! I HOPE I DON'T DISAPPOINT

“They’re taking too long,” Natsume had been alternating between the action of frantically pacing between two trees, and defeatedly slumping down on a stray log. He stuck to a pattern of sitting down for three seconds, then shooting straight to his feet, and pacing for five minutes. Madara was getting sick of looking at him.  
  
“Stop it, Natsume,” He irritably whined, and closed his eyelids. Enjoying the momentary peace, he said, “You’re making me sick.”  
  
Natsume ignored him, and unknowingly picked up the pace. “It’s been six hours since we last saw them. Something must have happened.”  
  
“You’re overreacting.” Madara said, “They’re fine, it probably just takes a while.”  
  
“You said that two hours ago!”  
  
“And I’ll say it again, they are fine, Natsume! Stop overthinking things,”  Madara scolded, “and stop with the pacing!”  
  
“But I’m not, sensei!” Natsume listened and stopped pacing, and looked at his teacher, wondering why the fox-spirit couldn’t understand that something was obviously wrong.  
  
“Kotoh never said anything about it taking six hours long!” He argued, “Something is definitely wrong!”  
  
“What is it with you humans and your penchant for always assuming the worst?” Madara muttered lowly, opening his eyes, and looked at his student through slits. “Fine, if you’re so terribly worried," Madara rolled his eyes, "let’s go after them, and find out what went so wrong.”  
  
“Really?” Natsume had gone back to pacing but upon hearing Madara’s words, he stopped, and swirled around to look at Madara. “We can go?” He asked anxiously, eyes widened and hands clenched tightly. “Its possible?”  
  
“Yeah, I’m guessing so. Maybe we would need a Guardian to really pass through but if so, Kotoh’s defensiveness wouldn’t make sense.”  
  
Madara hopped down from the tree branch he had been peacefully sleeping on, and trotted over to the spiritual tree. Even in his disgraceful form, he could still sense the enormous amount of power exuding from the tree.  
  
_‘How did I not sense this before?’_ Madara thought, _‘This tree has incredible magical power.’_  
  
Madara shook his head and transformed into his true fox form. He shook out the kinks in his neck, and looked over his shoulder catching Natsume’s expression, who was just staring blankly at where his cat-form had just been.  
  
_'So he still can't see me,'_  
  
“Come on. Let’s go.” Madara hesitantly reached out, and stuck his paw through the tree. Surprised he even went through, Madara pushed on and soon, his entire body was passing through the barrier and entering the Guardian world, with Natsume following closely behind.

 

 

* * *

 

 Tanuma was floating in space.

Or, at least he thought it was space. It was dark, and seemed to stretch on for miles, far further than what his eyes could make out in the darkness.

He expected at the very least to be faling towards the floor (if such a thing existed), but he was sort of hovering up in the air. It was as if all of the earth’s gravity had been sucked through a straw, and left the pseudo-space thriving on zero-gravity.  
  
He tried getting stable on his feet but failed miserably. He ended up doing three back flips, and a part-handstand when he changed tactics and tried to support himself using his hands.  
  
“Where the hell am I?” Tanuma didn’t bother to censor his words and full-out cussed. He had been through far too much in less than a week. He deserved the right to freely cuss and scream obscenities at whomever and whatever he wished, even if that meant space, or some version of it.  
  
“Where is this place?” Tanuma tried looking for a clue but being stuck in a no-gravity, dark, endless space sort of destroyed any potential, if existent clues.  
  
So back-tracked and tried recalling what he had been engaging in the past few hours where he’d been on earth, and not in an incessant wasteland. His memory was hazy, and bits and pieces were too foggy for him to rely on, but Tanuma focused his efforts on the clearer memories and tried piecing them back together, like he did with puzzles back in the temple when his dad was gone for work.  
  
It started out from him going with Natsume to the forest, and sharing a conversation that was too foggy for Tanuma to decipher. He skipped past that and dug deeper. His memory flashed to his entry into the tree with Kotoh, and Tanuma briefly remembered his awakening, and the odd sense of not feeling Kotoh occupying his body.

Everything after that came back with startling clarity.  
  
“Damn,”Tanuma would have loved to say he’d managed to gain control over the no-gravity situation he was in, but he’d only managed to stabilize himself, and stop himself from spinning wildly in no direction.

“That guy-!" Tanuma's mind flashed to the oddly dressed swordsman, and the nails digging into his skull. "He did this to me!”  
  
Tanuma didn’t really know what ‘this’ was but he vowed to find out, and get himself out of it. He was getting seriously sick and tired of being captured, and held against his will, far from the real action to be of any use to Natsume.  
  
Thinking of the other boy made his chest ache.

 

* * *

 

Things like this (not necessarily Tanuma’s current predicament but something akin to it) happened almost daily to Natsume. Tanuma didn’t know how he managed to handle his normal school and home life when there were such things all around him. Tanuma was barely holding it together after a week of being exposed to such… (Tanuma cursed his normally fluent vocabulary for failing him) things.  
  
If he couldn’t handle such a life after truly seeing it and being actively exposed to the Yokai world, for just a week, what did it say for Natsume’s strength, as someone who’d been exposed to such a world since a very young age, and had been still going through it when he was a teenager in high school? Tanuma didn’t know.  
  
He shook his head. He was going off-topic. His main priority was to get out of that vast wasteland, find Kotoh, and the second Guardian they needed, and then get back to Natsume where they’d help Kotoh finish her mission and cleanse the forest. After that, Tanuma would be free to praise Natsume’s incredible, never-ending strength till the sun came up.

 

* * *

 

 Natsume went through the same sensations Tanuma did once he went through the tree. He felt an extensive amount of feelings coursed through Natsume in the few seconds he was inside the barrier between the real world and the Spirit world; anger, relief, sadness, happiness, joy, pain, sadness were just some of the ones Natsume could identify.

He marveled at the incredible power housed in the barrier and in the Spirit world. If it was able to make every soul that passed through it feel all kinds of emotions, it must be able to hold a mind-blowing amount of power.  
  
Madara and Natsume soon passed through the barrier and appeared on the other side where they were greeted warmly by lush green surroundings, vibrant flowers, and a man clothed in traditional Japanese clothing holding a sword pointed directly at the fox-spirit and human boy.  
  
“This place does love attracting all kinds of people here, doesn’t it?”  
  
Natsume stared at the man, his hands held up in surrender with Madara growling ferociously beside him, still in his fox form, and very much invisible to Natsume.  
  
“So, who are you two?” The man indicated to Natsume and Madara with his sword, the tip dangerously close to Madara, if the monstrous growl that soon filled Natsume’s ears was anything to go by.  
  
“Who are you?” Natsume challenged back. He knew his situation wasn’t the most favorable but he refused to be a wimp once a weapon appeared in his field of vision. He’d had far more dangerous things pointed at him, and if he hadn’t cowered in fear then, he certainly won’t begin now.  
  
The man laughed. “You’re pretty gutsy, aren’t you, kid? Don’t you understand the kind of situation you’re in?”  
  
“I do understand,” Natsume stubbornly refused to back down, “And my question is still the same, who are you and where are Tanuma and Kotoh?”  
  
It was because of the intense eye-contact going on between Natsume and the swordsman that the former picked up on a flash of unease and fear in the latter’s eyes. That made Natsume’s brows furrow.  
  
The man acted coy, and shrugged his shoulders. “I have no clue who ‘Tanuma’ and ‘Kotoh’ are.”  
  
_‘He’s lying_.’ was Natsume’s immediate thought.  
  
The man continued on to say, “And you are in no position to ask me who I am.”  
  
“Natsume, can I kill him?” Madara’s voice growled lowly, and usually, Natsume would place his hand on Madara’s fur, and rub soothing circles into the fox to calm the fox down whenever he got angry or annoyed, but since he couldn’t see the fox, all he could do was shake his head and silently tell him no.  
  
“Oh," The man smiled deviously, "-so _your_ name is Natsume?”  
  
"Yes it is...why?" Natsume turned up his chin, and stood up taller. "What does it matter to you?" He asked, tone hostile, eyes narrowed to slits, and intensely focused on the swordsman every move.  
  
"Oh, nothing." His head fell towards his shoulder but stopped mid-way and looked at Natsume with mischievous, gleaming eyes and an infuriating smirk on his lips. They reminded Natsume of Madara when he saw a bottle of sake, or smelt food.    
  
"Just wanted to inform you that Kaname thinks highly of you. It’s slightly disturbing, really. "  
  
Natsume's eyes widened. "You _have seen_ Tanuma? Where is he!?" Natsume came closer to the swordsman, and viciously grabbed him by the collar, marginally surprised at the soft texture of the cloth. "Tell me! What did you do with him!? Where is Tanuma!?"  
  
Unadulterated disgust shone brightly in the man's light-green eyes. He looked  down at Natsume, disgust now taking over his features -his nose was flaring repeatedly, and his eyes were half-opened, caught in a glare, while the corners of his mouth were on a mission to touch his chin-, and his voice was terrifyingly calm and collected, with hints of barely concealed rage.  
  
"Let go of me, human scum," He seemed to spit out the word, and Natsume was mildly surprised those words were not enough to kill him. The venom expelled from those few words would have certainly caused his demise, if the man was capable of such unearthly magic. "-before I rip your head clean from your shoulders."  
  
Madara growled threateningly, and Natsume moved in a 'hold back' gesture, and listened as Madara stopped his growling, but didn't hold back his threatening aura.  
  
"Not until you tell me where Tanuma is." Natsume said defiantly, nose a hairsbreadth away from the swordsman's face.  
  
The man's mouth twitched. "You really have some nerve, kid." He came closer, and bent down, turning away, so his head was close to Natsume's hair, rather than nearly brushing his nose. "What proof do you have that I took him?"  
  
Natsume couldn't believe what he was hearing. The man had quite literally said it a few minutes ago, and now he had the audacity to act like a fool.  "You just said he thinks about me!"  
  
"But..." Natsume hesitated and let go of the man's collar, and took a few steps back, his face a confused mixture of fear and horror. "How would you know that? What did you do to him?"  
  
"Nothing." The man straightened his collar, and threw the blonde boy a nasty look. "I just kept him somewhere...special."  
  
"Stop with the games already, and tell me where my friend is!" Natsume angrily demanded, sick and tired of repeating himself to someone who clearly had to have hearing problems to not understand Natsume's demands.  
  
The man's green eyes flashed dangerously, and this time not from mischief.

"Address your elders with more respect, brat." When he finished speaking, Natsume suddenly found himself hovering above the ground, his body flipped around and his head currently aimed towards the ground, and his feet pointing towards the sky. There was enough feet between the earth and his head, which would instantly shatter with impact.  
  
"Wha-!?" Natsume wriggled around but felt a force repelling him, spinning his awkward attempts of escape around and returning him back to the intended position. "What is going on-!? Why am I in the air?"  
  
"You need to have more respect, you know." The man casually made a circle with his finger, and Natsume began spinning, slowly at first, but gradually building speed and intensity, which ended up making Natsume horribly nauseous, and bile threatened to build up in his throat.  
  
“A brat like you can’t go around addressing your seniors as if we are on the same level.” His tone reminded Natsume of the times he got scolded by his foster parents, or aunts and uncles, or his teachers for saying weird things that scared the other children; reprimanding and sharp.  
  
His voice got closer and Natsume turned to his left, and saw the man’s feet come into his field of vision.  
  
“As your senior, I should teach you a lesson.” Natsume wished fervently for the man to know how much alike to an annoying senpai he sounded, blathering on and on about being his senior.  
  
Madara unleashed an unholy growl when he saw Natsume’s head falling towards the earth, and charged at the swordsman. He was stopped by the same invisible force that suspended Natsume in the air, wrapping around his body and digging through the fur and flesh, leaving his pristine white fur tinged pink with blood.  
  
Madara yelped, and tried to draw back, but that caused the invisible force to dig deeper, and make him yelp once more.  
  
“Stop it!” Natsume yelled, fear and anger clear in his voice. “Stop hurting him!” Natsume couldn’t see the fox-beast but that didn’t make the fear and worry blossoming in his chest any less real.  
  
“Hurting him?” The man asked, faux surprised, “He attacked me, and I simply defended myself, _yet I_ should stop hurting him?”  
  
“Humans never cease to change, even after all this years.” The man shook his head, disappointed, “You attack one another, but yet try to defend and save the attacker, rather than the one who was defending themselves.”  
  
“How very _human_ of you, Natsume.” His words were followed by the screams and howls of Natsume and Madara as the man used whatever strong magic he held on them.

 

 

* * *

 

   
‘Well...shit.’  
  
Tanuma was truly beginning to understand the situation he was in, one of little -if any- methods of escape.  
  
“I’m screwed.”  
  
He accidentally did a back flip, and once he settled and stopped himself from doing another back flip, Tanuma pseudo swam through the darkness, heading in a direction he desperately hoped was straight and hopefully towards a wall.  
  
A few -minutes? seconds?- moments passed and Tanuma wasn’t seeing any difference from the time he’d started. There was still an endless darkness surrounding him, and the place was still running on zero-gravity, making traveling all that harder.  
  
“What the hell is this?” Tanuma stopped and focused his energy on keeping himself relatively upright. “I can’t see anything, and I don’t know if I’m moving, let alone going in any direction.” For all he knew, he could have just wasted valuable energy going in circles.  
  
He sighed and ran one hand through his navy-colored hair, trying his hardest not to get discouraged and simply let the zero-gravity send him wherever it wished. He tried thinking optimistically, and thought of how his basic human needs were numbed in the fabricated space.  
  
Being inside the darkness meant he couldn’t keep a trustworthy track record of time, but Tanuma guessed a few hours, maybe six or seven, had to have passed since he, Kotoh and Natsume had left the latter’s house, and he was yet to feel hungry, thirsty, sleepy, or even the urge to relieve himself.  
  
It was as if the faux space meant to keep its prisoners sated, and wanting nothing, forever suspending them in the worst way possible, surrounded by nothing but their thoughts.  
  
Tanuma was lucky in that sense, at least he tried to believe he was. His thoughts weren’t per say dangerous to be left alone, but he didn’t know how long he was going to be in the darkness, and there was only so much he could do to distract his mind before he would have no other option other than to listen and organize his thoughts.  
  
And frankly speaking, that was a far worse than any method of torture the swordsman might have thought of, or planned for.

Tanuma was considering resuming his pretend swimming and try to get as far as possible, when suddenly, there was a startingly bright light and a harsh gust of wind, that spun Tanuma wildly, disorienting him and making him dizzy and nauseous and causing him to faint.

 

 

* * *

 

Natsume didn’t know his voice was capable of reaching such high volumes.

His scream was slightly shrill and had undoubtedly reverberated throughout the whole forest/garden. However impressed he might have been by the strength of his vocal cords, his throat and head suffered incredibly from the loud note constantly being forcefully drawn out.  
  
“Let...him...go...” Madara’s deep voice sounded through the forest, burdened by heavy pants and lengthy pauses. “He’s...just a...child...”  
  
The swordsman increased the power on Madara, and grinned as the fox howled, and grit his jaw in a futile attempt to silence his howls.

“So what? You think children aren’t capable of doing harm? Of hurting someone?” The man took a step for each question, till he was standing in front of Madara, hand clenching slowly into a fist, listening with glee as the beast took a sharp intake of air and fought back against the cry building in his throat.  
  
“Let me tell you something, Madara.” The man began, “Humans, no matter the age, size, magic power, are capable of anything, even hurting the ones they claim to care about.”  
  
“I know this from experience, which is why,” He looked at the blonde boy writhing and thrashing madly in the air, face contorted in agony, tears dripping down the side of his face and falling into his ears, mouth opened in a silent cry.  
  
“I don’t plan to go easy on him,” He nodded at Natsume and turned to look at the fox, “Or you.”  
  
The swordsman began clenching his fist, and Natsume’s thrashing increased ten-fold. His face crumpled in pain, and his mouth continued to stay open in a silent wail, his vocal cords, heavily abused, had stopped removing any sound and had left Natsume in a hushed scream.  
  
‘Stop it...’ Natsume begged weakly in his mind ,‘Stop him...someone...please...stop him...and save...us..”  
  
As if hearing his plea, the swordsman suddenly clenched both his fists, and sent the two males into a state pure, unadulterated torture.

 

* * *

 

“Kai!” A woman’s voice suddenly yelled out, “What the hell do you think your doing!?”  
  
The swordsman, apparently named Kai, whirled around, surprised beyond words, and searched through the trees for whomever had called him.  
  
“Put them down, Kai!” The voice sounded closer, almost within reach of Natsume, had he been standing properly and possessed the capability to see beyond the tears streaming down his cheeks.  
  
“K-Kotoh?” Kai stuttered. The disbelief was too great of a shock for Kai and his focus wavered, not by much, but enough that  Madara chanced up the swordsman’s momentary distraction, and fought back against Kai’s magic; growling at Natsume to muster his strength and furiously kick at the bubble he was enveloped in, while Madara banished, and bit at the invisible ropes holding him down.  
  
Natsume collapsed, exhausted and bloody, onto the grassy earth, and panted heavily, eye lids heavy and barely staying open. Madara collapsed down onto the ground near Natsume’s feet, and transformed into his cat form. The damage inflicted by Kai was tremendous, and incredibly visible on Madara’s cat form.

He had thin, thread-sized cuts spanning all over his body, all in different patterns, some forming crosses while others standing alone. The slightly fortunate part about the cuts spread throughout their bodies was that they weren’t bleeding profusely.  
  
There was blood, obviously, but not in excessive amounts, and for that, Natsume was slightly glad. Their situation would be far worse if he and Madara were to be slowly dying due to blood loss.  
  
“What the hell were you doing, Kai?” The woman hollered and Natsume winced. His ears were still sensitive after being held in an invisible bubble, that rebounded every attack, scream, or any sort of movement back at him.  
  
“That...can’t be...” Kai was still caught in disbelief, and took a step back, wholly prepared to make an escape. “I was told you ran away...How are you back in the Guardian world?”  
  
“That’s a story for another time, Kai.” Natsume couldn’t see the Earth Guardian, but he imagined her crossing her arms over her chest, and fixing Kai with the strongest death glare.  
  
“You haven’t answered my question, Kai.” Kotoh said, sounding scarily close to Natsume’s head. “What were you planning to do to Natsume and his fat pig-cat?”  
  
“Oi...” Madara weakly protested, and Natsume sluggishly moved his hand, and hovered it over the cat’s back gently as his own silent way of comfort and apology.  
  
“I was going to make them suffer, for a while, before I killed them.” Kai answered truthfully, and Natsume felt a shiver wrack his body due to the sheer honesty and lack of shame or guilt palpable in Kai’s voice.  
  
Natsume feared if the Earth Guardian hadn’t bothered to interfere and save their lives, he would not have the glorious pleasure of listening to Kai getting scolded.  
  
“Why?” Kotoh asked, voice shaking with barely restrained fury. “Why were you trying to kill them?”  
  
"Because," Kai laughed and it sounded hysterical to Natsume’s ears, "they entered here without permission. They know about us, Kotoh,” He pleaded, “They know where we live and how to get there. Its too dangerous to let them leave here alive."  
  
"I have to protect us and the others, from the likes of them." Kai added and turned away from Kotoh, and looked at Natsume and Madara with hate and distrust.  
  
"That's..." Kotoh sighed, and Natsume mentally pictured the woman sighing and closing her eyes for a second before opening them and fixing Kai with an exasperated, pitiful look. "Kai...they're not dangerous."

"They came with me. I brought them here, well," She glared at Natsume and Madara, "Not them, but they are with me. I've been using a child's body to travel around in the human world."  
  
"What? Why?" Kai sounded severely disturbed at the prospect of entering into a human body and using it.  
  
"That’s a story for another time, Kai." Kotoh said, "Right now, I have to find the human boy I was traveling inside of. Have you seen him?"  
  
'Tanuma...she's talking about Tanuma..' Natsume thought, but he couldn't find the voice to word his thoughts, or the strength.  
  
“He might have passed by here.” Kotoh added and waited for Kai to respond, which took an unusual amount of time for such a simple question.  
  
“Yes,” Kai nodded his head, banishing the selfish idea of withholding the truth from Kotoh and saying he hadn’t seen the boy. “I have seen him.”  
  
“Is that so? That’s good then.” Kotoh let out a relieved sigh, and asked, “Where did he go?”  
  
Kai turned away and refused to meet Kotoh’s eyes. He hesitated for several seconds before giving in and confessing. He told her all about he and Tanuma met, and what Kai had done to him. By the time he was done, Kotoh’s expression had ceased being relieved and had become stony.  
  
“Get him back, now.” Her voice was stony, as well, offering no room for judgement.

Kai hesitated and thought about disobeying Kotoh and simply doing as he wished, but once he caught the glare being sent his way from Kotoh, he chose to follow the Guardian's wishes.

Kai concentrated and focused all his energy to clearing his mind, and leave it in a blank state, devoid of any thoughts or emotions. He imagined being in a dark place, and having the darkness slowly overpower him and swallow him, covering every part of his mind and leaving him surrounded by nothing but darkness, and in that endless black pit, Kai spotted an unconscious body floating around, hands splayed out and head turned to the side.

"I have him." Kai said out loud, and mentally, reached out for the young boy. He grabbed the boy's shoulder and transferred his focus to transporting him and Tanuma out of there.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its almost midnight and i am dead

Tanuma gasped and tried filling his lungs with much needed air. He took several deep breaths and slowly tried to calm his racing heart. He felt his body slowly calm down and his heartbeat lessen to an acceptable pace, and once he was sure he wouldn’t collapse due to lack of oxygen, Tanuma slowly opened his eyes.

He didn’t remember closing them, but Tanuma blinked blearily and waited for his eyes to clear and focus on the blurry figures in front of him. Tanuma instantly recognized the slender frame that identified with a certain male and the overweight feline beside him.

“Natsume! Ponta!” Tanuma exclaimed, caught horribly between relief and panic. “Why are you two here? Its dangerous!”

Natsume smiled slightly and refused to meet Tanuma’s eyes. The stout cat beside the young male was the one to answer Tanuma. “We came here because Natsume is lacking in patience and couldn’t wait for you and Kotoh to return.”

Tanuma turned to Natsume but the latter male still refused to meet Tanuma’s eyes. “Why would you do that, Natsume? I-” Tanuma paused and rephrased his words, “-We were coming back!”

Natsume opened his mouth, about to reply, but was rudely cut off by Kai.

“This is a sweet reunion and all, but could someone explain why I had to bring this human-,” He practically spat out the term, “-back?”

Tanuma swirled around and looked up at Kai from his position on the ground. He felt an insurmountable amount of anger coupled with fear and distrust when he looked at Kai.

“You!” Tanuma moved back and kept some distance between him and the male Guardian.

“Natsume,” Tanuma kept his eyes on Kai but turned his head slightly to address Natsume, “-stay away! This guy is dangerous!”

Kai scoffed and looked at Tanuma with distaste. “Is he an idiot?” He asked no one in particular. “They already know, you nitwit. Why do you think they look so disheveled?”

Tanuma, in the moment, had wholly overlooked Natsume’s and Ponta’s appearance, but looking back at them, he realized Kai was saying the truth. Natsume and Ponta didn’t look as they did when Tanuma had last seen them. They looked like they’d gone through a wringer more than once, and had barely managed to make it out alive.

“You...!” Tanuma leaped to his feet and charged at Kai, “What did you do them!?”

Kai smirked and waited for Tanuma’s attack. His potential delight was interrupted by Kotoh moving inhumanly quick and stopping Tanuma before he got too close to Kai.

“Stop it, Tanuma.” Kotoh said, her grip tight and bruising on Tanuma’s bicep, “You can’t hurt him. He will kill you.”

Tanuma wriggled and writhed in Kotoh’s grip. His free arm extended out and snatched and tore through the air, aiming for Kai but failing miserably as Kotoh had moved back and created a wide breach between him and Kai.

“Let me go!” Tanuma tried yanking his arm from Kotoh’s grip but to no avail. His attempts further pushed Kotoh to tighten her grip and harshly restrain him. “Let me go, Kotoh!”

“I said, _stop_ it, Tanuma.” Kotoh said and yanked on Tanuma’s arm, nearly dislocating the appendage from its socket. “Why are you not understanding? He will kill you if you get any closer.”

Tanuma refused to still and continued his futile efforts. “I don’t care! This bastard hurt Natsume and Ponta! There’s no way I’m going to sit back and let that go!”

Kotoh looked at Tanuma for a moment, but then sighed and quite literally, put Tanuma down. She twisted the arm in her grasp to bend and touch the other side of Tanuma’s body and quickly kept her knee on the forearm, using her weight against Tanuma and efficiently pining him to the ground.

Tanuma grunted in pain and tried wiggling out under Kotoh, regardless of the fact Kotoh would likely break his arm to keep him in place. “Get off me, Kotoh!”

Kotoh sighed heavily and added more of her weight onto Tanuma’s arm, stopping when Tanuma groaned in pain and stopped wriggling. “First, calm down. I understand how you feel, but you need to calm down.”

Tanuma wanted to yell Kotoh didn’t understand anything but was beaten to it by Kai’s cold, cruel laughter.

“Let him up, Kotoh!” Kai said and laughed again, “I’d love to see how a pathetic human can match up against me, a Guardian!”

Kotoh looked up at Kai and said venomously, “Keep your mouth shut, Kai. Unless you want me to do it for you.”

Kai hesitated and reluctantly listened and kept his mouth shut. He crossed his arms and glared down at the boy trapped underneath Kotoh’s weight.

Kotoh looked away from Kai and back at the young male underneath her. “Yes, Kai did attack Natsume and his fat cat,” She said and continued on to say, “But I found them and stopped him in time before he could do any serious damage. They are just a bit ruffled, but they will be okay.”

Natsume had been uncharacteristically quiet during the whole exchange but he finally lifted his head and looked at Tanuma. “Kotoh’s right, we’re fine. She stopped Kai in time.”

Natsume saw Tanuma’s resistance and added to reassure the blue-haired male. “We’re fine, Tanuma. I promise.”

Tanuma searched Natsume’s eyes for signs of deceit and found none. Tanuma slowly felt the fight drain out of him and he became pliant under Kotoh’s harsh hold. 

Kotoh sensed Tanuma’s sudden change in mood and slowly eased her weight off the young male. She cautiously moved away and let Tanuma rise to his feet and brush off the dirt from his messy clothes. Kotoh chose to stand close to Tanuma in case the male got any sudden ideas and tried taking Kai’s head again.

Tanuma ignored Kotoh’s close proximity and looked suspiciously at Kai. “Why are we not holding him captive after everything he’s done? He’s a bad person!”

“Because, Tanuma,” Natsume began but Kotoh finished his statement instead, “Kai is a Guardian. We can’t harm him. We need him.”

Tanuma’s eyes widened and a part of him remembered back when Kai was laughing and taunting Tanuma. At the time, Tanuma had been consumed by anger and had refused to see reason, let alone pay attention to the words coming from someone he considered his enemy, but Tanuma recalled the word, ‘Guardian’ was mentioned.

“You...” Tanuma hesitated and looked back at Kotoh, “He’s a Guardian? He’s the one we came here for?”

Kotoh nodded. “Yes. Kai is a Guardian.”

Tanuma was stuck between being unsure on whether his mind wasn’t capable of processing the revelation or if a part of him simply refused to. “He can’t be...He’s a bad person! He tried to kill Natsume! And me!”

Kai laughed again. “I didn’t try to kill you, you idiot. I just held you in a bubble, the same thing I did to your friends over there.” Kai nudged his head in Natsume and Ponta’s direction, “Take my word on this, brat, If I really wanted to kill you, you’d be dead, no doubt about it.”

“Kai!” Kotoh called out, her voice dangerously tight and low. “Not another word from you.”

“I know you don’t want to accept it, but it is the truth, Kai is a Guardian. He is not a good Guardian but he is one and right now, we need him, alright?” Kotoh asked Tanuma. “Do you understand, Tanuma?” She threw a distrustful look at Kai and said, “I don’t trust him either, but we need him. We have to save the town and we can’t do it alone.”

Tanuma desperately wanted to protest but he forced his mind to see past the hostility he held for Kai and see reason in Kotoh’s words. Kai, no matter how much of a distasteful personality he had, was the reason he and Kotoh had crossed over into the other world and as much as he didn’t want to, Tanuma knew it would be all for waste if they didn’t leave with him and try to save the town.

“I understand,” Tanuma said with his eyes cast down towards the ground. “We need him but that doesn’t mean I’m going to trust him or anything.”

Kotoh nodded and said, “I understand. I won’t ask you to.” She turned away from Tanuma to look at her vexatious Guardian. 

“This is no secret but I have never liked or trusted you, Kai, and I see no reason why I should now, but if you try another attack like this on Natsume or Tanuma, or anyone else,” Kotoh’s eyes changed color and held a vicious tint to them, “I will put you down myself.”

* * *

 

“So, how are we getting out of here?” Tanuma asked, moving over to Natsume and helping the male stand up. Tanuma placed Natsume’s arm over his shoulder and wrapped his right arm around Natsume’s waist and supported the slender male’s weight.

“Are we going through the tree, the same way we came in, or is there another way out?”

Kotoh looked around at their surrounding and shook her head. “That tree is the only entrance. We are leaving through another way.” 

She turned to Kai and said, her tone leaving no room for argument. “Kai will lead us there.”

Kai whirled around and looked taken aback by Kotoh’s demand. “What? Why? You’re a Guardian as well. You can lead them out of here. Why should I do it?”

“Because,” Kotoh said seriously, “I can’t leave you with Natsume or Tanuma. I don’t know what you will do to them.”

“So you’d rather trust me with directions? To lead you out of here?” Kai retorted snappishly. “Does that seem wise to you?”

Kotoh’s lips pulled up in what could almost be described as a smirk. “You said it yourself, I’m also a Guardian. I will know if you try leading us off course.”

Kai bared his strangely pointed teeth at Kotoh but said nothing more and turned to walk away from them, uncaring whether they followed or not.

Kotoh soon followed but kept distance between them and Kai. She turned to the two high school students and directed her question to the fair haired one.

“Are you okay? We don’t have to leave right now if you cannot handle the movement.”

Natsume shook his head slightly and took another step with Tanuma following behind him. “There’s no need, I’m fine.” Natsume’s statement lost its intended effect when he stumbled on a rock and nearly fell had it not been for Tanuma’s quick reflexes that caught Natsume before he could touch the ground.

“Don’t push yourself too hard, Natsume.” Tanuma said, worry etched in his face. “We can wait till you and Ponta feel better.”

Madara huffed and trotted past them casually. “Speak for yourself, kid. I’m fine.” Madara looked at his owner’s pathetic form and sighed, but Tanuma and Kotoh saw the worry flash in his feline eyes. 

“I told you to eat more, didn’t I, Natsume? Now look at you, you can barely stand up without help.”

“Shut up, Nyanko-sensei. I said, I’m fine. There’s no need to stop and waste time. The evil in the forest will continue to spread if we waste more time here, so let’s get going.”

Kotoh gave Natsume a look but she said nothing and resumed walking in front of the two males, Madara close at her heels.

* * *

 

Kai led them through a path wholly different to the one Tanuma remembered seeing. It was as if they had crossed over to the other side of the forest and were now trying to make their way out and their only chance of doing that happened to be a emotionally unstable Guardian with a seemingly unfounded deep hatred for humans.

Tanuma wished they had an actual trustworthy person leading them, but Kai was the best they could do. Kotoh could lead them out as she was a fellow Guardian and naturally knew the route Kai was taking but if she led, then who would keep watch over Kai?

Tanuma doubted his self-control was at such a high level where he could be near the man who hurt Natsume and be able to hold back from socking him right in the jaw. 

He didn’t even doubt it, he knew he couldn’t do it. That wasn’t even a question, it was a fact.

“Here,” Kai led them around a corner and up a miniature hill before he stopped at the trunk of another thick, large -larger than all the other trees seen so far-tree, much higher in height than its fellow brothers and sisters. “This is it.”

Tanuma looked skeptical but didn’t say anything and let Kotoh speak first.

“Yes, this is the other transfer point. We need to pass through here if we want to get back to the human world.”

“Transfer point?” Natsume asked and moved closer to Tanuma. The movement was significant to Natsume as it made it easier for Tanuma to hold him and support his weight. “What is that? You didn’t mention it before.”

“A transfer point is the point between the Guardian realm and the human one,” She nudged in the two boys direction, “Its where people like you and Natsume and your other fellow humans, knowingly or unknowingly, can pass through and appear into the Guardian world.”

“Its usually hidden by several different complex magic spells but some humans are known to...accidentally happen upon one transfer point and accidentally touching it.”

“And then they have their brains fried.” Natsume finished Kotoh’s sentence and turned his head away, disgusted but incredibly unsure whther the negative emotion was at him and his species as a whole, or at the Guardians.

“It was a nice addition.” Kai rudely interjected and added, “That was the one thing Kira did that I actually enjoyed. Seeing the humans writhe and wriggle on the ground like the worm they are, their faces drenched in tears, clawing desperately for the pain to stop, is unimaginably satisfying.”

“You!” Tanuma growled out and had it not been for Natsume’s weight on his hip, Tanuma would have aimed for the older man’s throat for the third time. He instead chose to show his immense displeasure through his words and save the action to a time where he and Natsume were in tip-top shape. “How can you say that? Those are human beings, innocent human beings who have done nothing wrong.“

“They don’t deserve that... No one does.”

Kai’s laugh was loud and sarcastic, practically overflowing with bitterness and scorn. “Of course you would think so.”

He rounded on Tanuma, eyes blazing and voice harsh and biting, nearly making Tanuma stumble backwards in attempt to run away. “What would you, a pitiful human, know of the things Guardians, spirits, Yokai have suffered under the hands of your beloved humans?”

“Do you know of the things they did to get rid of us? We were here before you and yet, you have the audacity to try and get rid of us and try to act all high and mighty when dozens of your kind slaughtered thousands of mine?”

“Kai!” Kotoh called out sharply but Kai refused to listen and continued,

“Get off your high horse, human. Your species is not worthy of pity. It is worth nothing but all the hate, anger and hurt you’ve caused and continue to cause, and that is what is coming for you. Its coming for you all.”

“That’s enough, Kai! Stop it!” Kotoh called and this time Kai didn’t ignore her and turned away from the stunned figures of Tanuma and Natsume and walked away from them. He went to lean on one of the trees a few feet away, graciously giving Natsume and Tanuma time to recover and process what Kai had just said.

* * *

 

“I apologize on his behalf,” Kotoh began as she glanced over her shoulder at her fellow Guardian, “He has...issues with humans.”

Natsume, Tanuma and Madra all had identical looks of mock disbelief on their faces, but Kotoh, unaccustomed to sarcasm, failed to notice and continued to say, “He had a bad interaction with them, a long time ago and he’s had a dislike for humans since then.”

Natsume picked up on the tense tone in Kotoh’s voice and decided to steer the conversation to somewhat lighter topics. “We should be getting back. Its going to be late soon and we haven’t started on the cleanse.”

Kotoh nodded and began leading them to the transfer point, and stood back to let the two human boys pass as she called out to Kai. He appeared by her side in the next second and she faced him and said, “Control yourself, Kai. If you act like that out there again, I will not hesitate to throw you back here like before.”

Kotoh went through the transfer point and soon enough, Kai followed.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You little shit..!” Kai cursed and twisted his fingers, redirecting the pressure from Tanuma’s skull to the joint connecting his femur and tibia together. Tanuma screamed out in agony and tried reaching down, trying to elevate the pressure, but Kai was faster and grabbed Tanuma’s wrists and slammed them onto the ground, using his weight to efficiently pin Tanuma down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Went on hiatus for three months and had a comeback!

Crossing through the barrier brought back all those emotions when they first entered, but only this time, the feeling was somehow amplified to a selected few. Negative emotions; grief, pain, sadness were perceivable as he passed through with Tanuma, but the positive emotions from before no longer existed, or if they did, did so in such small amounts that they were barely recognizable.

It seemed Tanuma felt the same way, judging from his creased brow and the conflicting emotions Natsume could see flickering behind those navy-blue orbs. He reached out, about to ask on Tanuma’s well-being when Madara spoke up.

“I’ve been meaning to ask this for awhile-,” He turned and looked at Kotoh and Kai exit the forest/garden/guardian world. “-but what is with those trees? The gateways. Each time we pass through them, a weird feeling comes over me and then thousands of emotions run through me.”

“Why is that?”

Kotoh looked reluctant to explain, clearly not pleased with the constant disrespect Madara has shown, but did so (albeit grudgingly), when Natsume also turned, curious about the trees as well.

“They absorb the...energies around them. Emotions are one of the greatest energies in this forest. The trees adapted to absorb them and use it to their benefit, and to the forest’s benefit.” She looked back at the tree, silently marveling on how… normal it looked. It housed one of the greatest treasures known to some lucky men but looked so ordinary, and practically identical to its neighboring siblings.

“Anger, Grief, Sadness, Joy, Love, Pain, Happiness.” She looked back at the odd trio and walked forward past Kai and between Tanuma and Natsume’s bodies to stand in front of another tree, identical to the gateway. “They are some of the strongest emotions circling around this forest and affect the gateways. That is why they look like that. Big and strong, yet no different to its siblings.”

“Sort of like a chameleon then?” Tanuma chimed in and elaborated when Kotoh’s eyebrows rose in confusion. “A chameleon is an animal that can change its pigmentation to suit its surroundings and protect itself against danger. Sort of like what the tree does.” 

Kotoh took some time to process the new information and nodded along, agreeing with Tanuma’s strange analogy. “Yes. Like a chameleon.”

“I don’t get it though.” Natsume said and adjusted his grip on Tanuma. He moved closer till their sides were practically glued together and half leaned on the boy. “How does the forest fill up with so many emotions? And how does it know what to absorb and what not to?”

“Based of your explanation it doesn’t sound like there’s someone controlling them, or an in-built command system, so how does it work? How do they only absorb what they need and reject the rest? And where do the rejected emotions go?”

Kotoh looked slightly uneasy by the onslaught, but recomposed herself and tried explaining the mechanism behind the trees supporting the entrance and exit into their world.

“The emotions filling up the forest originate from the living things inside it. The insects that want to live and reproduce before they are killed. The predators that want a meal to satisfy their ravenous bellies. The yokai waiting on a unknowing human to pass by and claim their body. These desires come from within them and each one has an underlying emotion. The insects that want their line to continue. The predators searching for food. The yokai hunting for their next victim. These actions all have emotions behind them, and are released into the forest.”

Kotoh paused for a moment before continuing, “How it knows what to absorb and what to reject, I have no knowledge of. These is not something our predecessors asked, and neither did our ancestors. This also applies to the rejected emotions. I am not sure if the trees absorb them and remove the unwanted chemicals but I would like to believe they adapted over hundreds of centuries and know what is needed and what is not.”

Natsume nodded, satisfied with Kotoh’s answer, and she turned to Madara, resting on a tree, crimson red cuts visible through his multi-color fur. “Then,” Kotoh looked at Madara and waited for a response. “Does that satisfy you, pig?”. 

“Yes, but I have another question.” Madara didn’t seem overly bothered by Kotoh’s comment and continued to rest, trying his hardest not to show the true damage Kai inflicted on him back in the Guardian world.

Kotoh crossed her arms over her chest and leveled Madara with a steely gaze. “What is it?”

“Shouldn’t you be merging together with Tanuma again? We’re out of the Guardian world and you did say all those things about needing his body and the spiritual energy back when we first met.” Madara pointed out and Tanuma lifted his head to look at Kotoh, nervously waiting for her response.

“I should.” Kotoh said bluntly, and Tanuma’s face dropped. “But not now.”

“Huh?” Tanuma’s expression lifted and reformed into bafflement. “What do you mean not now? Why not now?”

“Because-” Kotoh looked back at the thick forestry and said, “Being in the Guardian world helped restore my energy for a limited amount of time. I’d roughly say I have an hour or two before I will merge with you.”

She looked over her shoulder at Tanuma and said meaningfully. “So make sure you use the time you have now properly because we won’t be separated for a long time to come.”

 

* * *

 

Tanuma looked over at Natsume and searched for something he wasn’t sure of in Natsume’s golden irises. He thought of stopping and letting the young teenager rest but doubted Kai would accept without causing some sort of unnecessary fight. However, that train of thought was halted when Natsume stumbled and nearly collapsed onto the floor.

“Hey! Natsume! Hey!” Tanuma called out as he gently rested Natsume on the ground and moved upwards to hold his head in his palms, heart beating frantically in his chest from fear and dread. “Wake up! Hey! Natsume!”

Natsume’s eyes flickered beneath his eyelids and he cracked one eye open to look at the blurry figure resembling Tanuma. He tried opening his mouth but found it unimaginably heavy and dry. He instead tried moving his hand and attempt to reassure Tanuma that he was fine, but he only had enough strength to make the first two digits twitch weakly.

“Hey, Ponta!” Tanuma turned to Madara who had hurriedly dashed over despite his injuries once he heard Tanuma’s distressed cries. “What’s wrong with him? Why did he faint? Is he going to be okay?”

Madara came closer and peered over at his student’s features. Natsume’s body was breaking out in heavy sweat; his forehead and neck already damp from it, and his cheeks were turning redder as the seconds went by. He also seemed to have trouble breathing, if the heavy pants and laboured intakes were anything to go by.

“I think he might be getting a fever.” Madara said, drawing back and letting Tanuma fuss over Natsume’s unconscious body. 

_ Either that or he’s getting an infection. Either way, it’s not good.  _

“We need to get him out of here.” Madara said and looked up at Kotoh. “The forest isn’t a good place for someone who’s...out of sorts and injured.”

Kai huffed and rolled his eyes before glaring down at Natsume’s flushed, unconscious body. “Why do we have to do so much for this simple-minded kid? We have to  _ cleanse _ a forest, something _ far greater _ and of more _ importance _ than some  _ human child _ dying due to his own weakness.” 

Tanuma, angered by Kai’s ruthless words, snapped and lunged at Kai, with his fingers flexing and twitching in a threatening manner. He was nearly stopped by Kotoh but evaded her grasp and charged at Kai. He managed to get into Kai’s space and was about to land a hit on the Guardian, when a force so strong knocked him to the ground and ripped the air from his lungs.

Tanuma exhaled heavily and tried to breathe, but was interrupted by Kai grinding his face roughly on the muddy ground, and dirting his cheek. Kai came closer and increased the pressure on Tanuma’s head, practically shoving him into the dirt.

“Stop it, Kai!” Kotoh yelled out, but Kai ignored her and forced more pressure onto Tanuma’s skull.

“You little shit..!” Kai cursed and twisted his fingers, redirecting the pressure from Tanuma’s skull to the joint connecting his femur and tibia together. Tanuma screamed out in agony and tried reaching down, trying to elevate the pressure, but Kai was faster and grabbed Tanuma’s wrists and slammed them onto the ground, using his weight to efficiently pin Tanuma down.

“You know…” Kai bent down and began whispering in Tanuma’s ear, “I don’t think he’s told you why he can’t stand or walk on his own, has he?” Kai looked back at Natsume’s unconscious body and grinned maniacally. “I did that to him, you know.” Kai taunted and tightened his grip when Tanuma began writhing and thrashing in pain. 

“He came into our world, and demanded to know where you and Kotoh were.” Kai taunted, and twisted his fingers, increasing even more pressure on Tanuma and making him howl in pain. “Naturally, I was stunned by his arrogance. I thought humans, over the past centuries I haven’t been around, would have changed, but I was wrong.” 

“So,” Kai said and his grin widened to impossible lengths. “I got angry, and punished him. And his fat pig-cat. I tortured them. Repeatedly. Making sure they never got a chance to rest.” He said, “I would have killed them, no, I wanted to kill them, and I would have if it wasn’t for Kotoh.” Kai’s expression became distasteful and he glanced up at Kotoh, only to come into contact with a thick, burly fist.

Kai was knocked away from Tanuma, and with his concentration broken, the pressure on Tanuma was elevated instantly, relieving the dark-haired boy. He tried curling into himself but winced and stopped when his knees violently protested the movement. Tanuma lay there on his back, eyes closed while tears freely ran down the corner of his face, trying to recover and get his heart under control while Kotoh pounded Kai into oblivion.

 

* * *

 

“I warned you multiple times, Kai!” Kotoh said, voice trembling from fury and punched down on Kai’s stomach. The man gasped loudly and nearly doubled over from pain but Kotoh grabbed his shoulder and landed another hit on his side. “I told you not to attack them, and you go and nearly  _ kill _ Tanuma.” She emphasized her words with a hit and roared out angrily. “In front of  _ my very eyes!!” _

“Do you have no  _ shame _ ?!” Kotoh demanded but Kai, overwhelmed and in great pain, couldn’t answer. Kotoh landed another punch, and another, and another, and would have continued beating Kai up, had it not been for Madara’s interference, tugging on her clothes and pulling her off Kai before she killed him.

“Stop it.” Madara said but Kotoh, blinded by rage, didn’t hear. “I said, stop it!” Madara repeated at a louder volume and Kotoh stopped her thrashing and tried calming down enough to listen.

“Look at him!” Madara kept Kotoh down and transformed back to his usual state, wincing once his back connected with the floor heavily. He grimaced again but managed to get up right and look at Kotoh, eyes darkened with rage, fingers flexing dangerously by her sides, and her chest panting heavily as she tried containing her anger, all the while her eyes never left the bleeding, rapidly swelling face of Kai.

“You’ve done enough, Kotoh!” Madara called out, but Kotoh didn’t bother turning to face him  and continued sending death glares at Kai. “If you beat him up any further, he’ll end up dead!”

“Do you want that?!” This time, Kotoh turned slowly to acknowledge Madara’s presence. “We’ve come all this way to get another Guardian, are you sure you want to kill him before we even try cleansing the forest?” Madara continued to say, “If you do, then go ahead and kill him, I won’t stop you, but-” Madara might have been seriously injured and weakened but he managed to muster up one his trademark glares and said, “I won’t let you get away after making Natsume and Tanuma suffer for nothing.”

Kotoh wasn’t one to be easily shaken by the people she considered a threat, but she felt her blood run cold, looking at Madara’s pale yellow eyes. She knew it wasn’t a threat, but a promise. If she did kill Kai for no reason other than her wildly, uncontrolled emotions; she’d have to face Madara, and based on the cold glare in his eyes, Kotoh knew it wouldn’t be an easy fight.

Madara refused to lessen the intensity of his gaze until Kotoh nodded, and backed away from Kai. She went over to Tanuma’s side and began checking to see how much damage Kai’s attacks had inflicted. Madara followed in her example and went to Natsume. The boy was still unconscious but his condition had worsened. His breathing seemed to take a great toll on his body and his heartbeat was growing fainter with each second.

“We need to leave this place and get them some help.” Madara said and looked over at Kotoh. She nodded in agreement and was about to lift Tanuma up and carry him in her arms when Madara’s next words made her pause.

“Wait, we can’t take them to a hospital.” Madara said, “I don’t know how we could explain who you are and why we have two teenage boys injured and why one of them is nearly unconscious.”

“Then what do we do?” Kotoh asked in return.

“We need a place that won’t attract any unwanted questions or unnecessary suspicion.” Madara began racking his brain for a solution. 

“Why can’t we take them to Natsume’s house?” Kotoh asked, and Madara violently shook his head, “The grandmother is still inside. She rarely leaves, and I’d rather not have you answer the thousands of questions on how it happened, or who you are.” 

He looked over at Tanuma and got an idea. 

 

* * *

 

“Kotoh, I need you to carry Natsume and put him and Tanuma on my back.”

“Why?” Kotoh’s brows furrowed and she gave Madara a muddled look. 

“Because,” He paused and looked up at Kotoh. “We’re taking them to Tanuma’s.”

 

* * *

 

“I understand you want to help, but I can’t do that. I cannot carry Tanuma up and lay him on your back.” Kotoh surprised Madara with her response and he whirled around to face her, disbelief shining clear in his golden slits.

“What do you mean you can’t? The kid is literally rolling around in pain and I am  _ offering _ to  _ relieve _ him of that.” Madara trotted over to Kotoh and stood a few feet apart, glaring up at her expressionless features. “So, what do you mean you can’t?”

“Won’t you listen for once, you foolish cretin?” Kotoh turned and bent down to touch Tanuma’s delicate kneecaps and pulled back hastily when the young male flinched and tried moving away. She stopped him and pointed down at Tanuma, saying, “You see that? He won’t even let me touch his knees, what makes you think I’ll be able to  _ carry  _ him and put him on your back?”

Madara lacked a response and Kotoh sighed heavily. She brought a hand up and began massaging her temples, feeling a headache coming on due to all the chaos she’d gotten swept up in ever since emerging from the other world. 

Kotoh knew of a way to temporarily restore Tanuma’s physical state to what it used to be but she didn’t want to use it, especially not in front of the one spirit she’d grown to dislike immensely. But looking down at Tanuma’s limp, injured form, Kotoh understood that her decision wasn’t about whether she was comfortable letting Madara know of her limited abilities, but rather of saving a young boy’s life whom she’d knowingly dragged into the dangers of the spirit world.

“I need a moment alone with Tanuma. I promise to get him on your back, but I need a few minutes alone with him.” Kotoh eventually said, not looking away from Tanuma.

“But-!” Madara protested and moved forward but stopped when Kotoh spoke once more, her hand risen high in the air, a silent sign for him to keep quiet and listen.

“I  _ promise, _ he will be there.”

Madara knew himself and knew he would have fought against Kotoh’s words, because he still considered her a stranger and a threat, but the conviction and resolution in her voice convinced him to turn back and walk away to where Natsume rested. He ignored the stinging pain from his injuries and transformed, and took Natsume, carrying him gently up and placing him on his back. He sat there and patiently waited for Kotoh and Tanuma, all the while being very aware of Kai’s pained sounds on the tree opposite to the one he rested on.   
  


* * *

 

 

The distance between her, Tanuma and Madara wasn’t far. It really wasn’t far at all, but there was enough of a distance that Kotoh could shadow Tanuma’s body with her own and use her magic for the first time in years.

“How long has it been since I’ve had to use this?” Kotoh wondered out loud and gently pushed Tanuma’s bangs back. She was mildly surprised by her kind, gentle and almost-protective nature towards Tanuma, but pushed it aside, excusing it as their special connection through the bond formed, but a part of her doubted it.

“I’m sorry, Tanuma.” Kotoh said, gently running her hand through the thick dark locks, “I truly am sorry for all the pain this has caused you.”

Tanuma, as expected, didn’t respond and Kotoh looked at him carefully before clearing her throat and setting her hands on his midsection, just below his rib cage. She closed her eyes and focused on her surroundings. The smell of wet grass and damp earth. The sounds of insects and small animals scurrying around in the bushes. The feel of the earth on her knees. She honed on all her senses and tapped into a power left dormant for so many decades.

Kotoh pictured reversing time back to when Tanuma snapped and tried for Kai’s head. She pictured time turning back, like the pages on a book, and going back to that exact moment when she reached out for Tanuma and he dodged away. And when she felt a strong vibration course through her body and use her fingers as an outlet; Kotoh opened her eyes and looked down at Tanuma, pleasantly surprised to see her power had worked and his eyes were open and wildly searching around.

 

* * *

 

“What-? What happened?” Tanuma asked and sat up, instinctively reaching towards his ‘throbbing’ knees. “Where’s Kai? And Natsume? What happened to him?”

“Calm down, Kaname.” Kotoh rested a hand on Tanuma’s chest and pushed him back onto the ground. “He’s fine. He’s resting over there on Madara.” She overlooked Tanuma’s first question and acted like she’d never heard it. There was no way to avoid the glaring enemy that was Kai, but Kotoh wanted to postpone any more talks or actions involving Kai for later. She figured the last thing either male’s needed was a reminder of the terror inflicted on them.

Tanuma turned and saw that it was true. Madara’s fox form had Natsume resting on his back and he nearly sagged back onto the ground in relief. “Thank God.”

“How are you feeling?” Kotoh asked, tentative. “Do you feel anything strange or unusual? Any sort of pain?”

“No.” Tanuma lightly shook his head and looked up at the cloudy blue sky. “I feel fine...but I shouldn’t be feeling like this, right?” He looked away and to his side at Kotoh, no judgement in his voice or gaze. He was just curious.

Kotoh was silent and considered lying but knew Tanuma would never believe her. She instead kept quiet and let Tanuma interpret that whichever way he chose.

They sat quietly for a short moment before Kotoh stood up and helped Tanuma up. She gestured towards the large fox and said, “Get on him. We’re taking you two to your house for recuperation.”

Tanuma nodded and went over to Madara and clambered onto his large body. He sat near Natsume and, as if it was his natural instinct, he reached for Natsume’s hand and clenched it tightly in his own, praying for anything but the images flashing behind his eyelids from the dark recess of his mind.

 

* * *

 

Kotoh looked at Kai, and this time, it was her expression that was distasteful and dripping in disdain. She wanted to leave him behind, twitching and groaning in agony, but her, Natsume’s, Madara’s and Tanuma’s efforts would be wasted, and Kotoh despised waste.

“Get up.” She demanded and made no effort to help her fellow Guardian off the ground. 

Kai didn’t comply and Kotoh’s lip pulled up in a sneer. 

“Get up, or I’ll leave you here.” Kotoh threatened and her words provoked a reaction. Kai moved slowly and hesitantly, but got on his feet and looked through a swollen eye at Kotoh. His injuries made it impossible to decipher the look in his eyes, but Kotoh doubted it was one of love and appreciation.

“Get on him,” She nudged her head in Madara’s direction and walked away without waiting for a response. 

Kai took longer than Kotoh, but he eventually followed her and went over to Madara. The latter male growled threateningly and Kai took a step back, suddenly compliant and scared of the two spirits. Madara ceased his growls when Kotoh lightly knocked on his side, and let the man climb on, before sitting up and forcing his legs forward and up into the sky.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You can’t expect me to believe you know the difference between those soldiers and the children sleeping behind me when you can’t even own up to the fact that you nearly did the same thing as those soldiers and murdered two innocent children who had no part in whatever revenge story you’re trying to re-enact.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahahaha another three month long hiatus and she's back!! uh this is long overdue and hastilywritten but I wanted to continue this since it's going to be ending soon (spoiler). there's a line where Kotoh says he's not an idiot but a fool. What that means is she said it differently. I used the JPN way they say idiot and fool so they may sound the same but they're pronounce differently and have a different meaning. I'll be goin with a schedule of TAYAYKI, L.Eyes, B.Legs, Progress with a few one-shots here and there, so the next chapter should come after T.A.Y.A.Y.K.I, please look forward to it!

Kaname sat beside Takashi and held his hand tightly, afraid to let go for even a second. He intertwined their fingers and Kaname used his thumb to feel for Takashi's pulse at his wrist. It was faint, and he had to press harshly into Takashi's wrist to properly feel it, but it was there. There was a pulse. Takashi was still breathing.

Kaname bitterly wished the same couldn't be said for Kai. The older man was seated in front of him, and was sandwiched between him,Takashi and Kotoh. Kaname hadn't had the chance to witness Kotoh's anger as she pummeled the irrational spirit, but he figured it had gone on for a while, if the rapid swelling in Kai's right eye and the pained way he held his side were anything to go by.

Kaname felt a pinch of happiness when he saw that, but it was wholly overpowered by the contradicting pity he felt looking at the older man. He knew -all _too_ well- of the danger Kai possessed; he was the _embodiment_ of untrustworthy and unreliable. There was absolutely nothing Kaname could trust or even try to hope in. But he also knew that _nobody_ deserved to struggle with something as basic as breathing. It seemed Kotoh had inflicted a harsh blow on Kai's ribs and the male spirit was having a hard time with his breathing. He couldn't lie down either for fear of a puncture and had to sit upright with his hand gingerly wrapped around his midsection.

However, Kai refused to show the pain he was in. He kept his back perfectly straight, and though his hand was around his waist, a clear sign of an injury; Kaname could tell the expression on Kai's face was either one of intense dislike directed toward all of them (but specifically honed towards Kotoh), or it was an impressive poker face.

Kaname felt his resolve weaken and try to tempt him into questioning the older male on his well-being but Kaname forcefully planted his butt onto Madara's fur. He had been called a softie more than once in his life, and Kaname had never really minded the statement. He had take it in stride and treated it as a compliment, as a good thing. He understood and respected that most people preferred to keep their emotions masked behind a casual smile or laugh, but he also wished other people would understand that that wasn't in his nature. He had been raised around plenty of spiritual figures and even though he couldn't see most of them; Kaname tried to understand and help the ones he could. He tried to help everyone that he could, and even though some had classified it as something that made him an easy target, Kaname didn't try to change it and stuck to what he believed in.

But in their current situation, his helpful, kind nature couldn't be applied. For Kai, regardless of how injured he was or how pitiful he seemed, the man had tried to kill him more than once, and had gravely injured not only Takashi but Madara as well. Kaname was forgiving, extremely so, but to a fault. There was only so much he could forgive before he stopped being naive and faced the truth that was Kai was not a good person, and was _not_ worthy of his pity.

Kaname turned away from Kai and focused on the sick male laying by his side. Kaname observed Takashi's features keenly and worriedly chewed on his bottom lip. Takashi's body was rapidly worsening and didn't show any sign of stabilizing. The sweat previously located on his forehead and neck had migrated and was now freely wetting his midsection. Takashi's shirt had stuck to his skin and his neck and chest shone brightly from the thin sheen of sweat. Kaname's cheeks flushed slightly and he violently berated himself for thinking of such things. It wasn't the time or place to begin having erotic thoughts of Takashi.

Kaname turned to the three spirits and said, raising his voice to be heard over the sound of the wind. "He's getting worse! I’m not sure we'll be able to make it in time!"

Madara didn't respond but turned his head to look at Takashi. Kaname thought he saw concern briefly flash in those flaxen colored slits but it was gone just as quickly as he'd seen it. Madara nodded and forced his body to move faster, weaving through the sky and trees to land at Kaname's estate. Madara transformed back into his cat-form and collapsed onto his side, exhausted. He tried wiggling his feet and standing up but it barely got him anywhere.

Kaname was busy with Takashi, gently scooping up the slender male into his arms and carrying him into the house, while Kotoh kept a stern watch on Kai.

Madara _needed_ medical assistance but his pride refused him from asking Kotoh for help. He tried again to stand and was rewarded with the same result as the previous time. It was when he tried it for the third time that Kotoh saw him, and silently walked over, and scooped him into her arms. She gestured for Kai to walk in first and followed after him, kicking the door shut with the heel of her shoe.

Madara tried to protest and get out of Kotoh's hold but she wouldn't let him and tightened her grip, not too much to aggravate his bleeding wounds, but enough to send a warning.

"Stop it, pig." She said and lessened her hold, "I know you are in pain, and need assistance. There is no need to hide it." "There is nothing shameful about being injured."

Madara growled out a response and vehemently denied Kotoh's statement. "I am not in pain! And even if I was, I'm not such an idiot to be ashamed of it!"

 _'You may not be an idiot, but you certainly are a fool.'_ Kotoh kept the thought to herself and said nothing in response. She followed behind Kai and went to where Kaname and Takashi were.

* * *

Kaname had taken Takashi to one of the bedrooms located deep in the mansion. He, despite the pain he must be feeling, moved quickly and went to get a cloth and a small bucket of warm water. Kotoh kneeled down and let Madara hop out from her arms. He landed lightly on his paws and went over to Takashi's side, curling up by his side and taking a few minutes to properly rest.

Kaname returned with the items and began quickly wiping off the sweat from Takashi's body. He unbuttoned Takashi's school shirt and let it fall open on either side. He took the cloth and dipped it into the water before wiping Takashi's chest and stomach.

He repeated the action until Takashi's body stopped producing a waterfall of sweat. Kaname kept the cloth aside and reached down to feel Takashi's forehead. He sighed in relief. Takashi's fever had reduced by a significant amount. His skin no longer felt heated like an erupting volcano, and felt relatively warm.

"Thank God." Kaname fell to his side in relief, and held a hand to hide the wetness in his eyes.  

"Thank God..." He repeated in a lower volume, and closed his eyes. He laid his head next to Takashi ribs, using the squishy part of his bicep as a pillow. Kaname closed his eyes under the illusion that he was supposed to rest his eyes for a quick second, but ended up falling asleep instantly. He let out quiet little snores from his mouth, and turned to rest more comfortably on the floor; the other three visitors in his house forgotten, and unwisely left to their own devices.

"Finally," Madara said, and cracked an eye open to look over at Takashi's and Kaname's sleeping bodies. “The kids are finally asleep.”

* * *

“You.” Madara mustered enough strength to lift his head and look at Kai. “Why do you want us dead? And don’t say you didn’t want to kill us. We both know that’s a lie.”

“Huh?” It seemed on the ride over, Kai’s confidence had been restored and he seemed better than ever. At least, personality wise. “Why would I say that? I was definitely trying to kill you three, and would have succeeded if not for…” He trailed off but they all knew who he meant.

“Keep quiet, Kai.” Kotoh said, weary. She rubbed her temples lightly and crossed her hands once more before continuing. “I’ve had enough of your threats towards them.”

Kai opened his mouth, probably to complain, but Madara swiftly intervened.

“You haven’t answered the question, Kai.” He said and Kai looked back at him. “Why do you want us dead?”

Kai said nothing and gave Madara his best poker face. It wasn’t very strong but it was enough to make Madara exasperated and change tactics.

“Let me ask you this then....what do you have against humans?” Madara was observing Kai closely and immediately saw when the man’s poker face slipped and fear flashed briefly across his features. 

“What are you talking about? I have nothing against that lot.” Kai tried to act flippant but Madara saw right through him. The man was afraid. Afraid of what, Madara didn’t know, but he was eager to find out.

“Don’t lie.” Madara didn’t bother softening or watering down his words and said with brutal honesty. “You had this look of disgust when Natsume and I walked in. It showed on your face again when you said where Tanuma was. Not to mention, the multiple times you tried and nearly killed Tanuma or Natsume.”

“I don’t hate them.”

“I-” Madara said but Kai cut him. “I _despise_ them. I loathe them.” There was a harsh hiss to his words that made Madara silent and listen.

“After what I’ve seen them try to do, and what they’ve managed to do to us, to spirits like us, the _only_ emotion I have towards them is hate and anger.”

Madara’s eyes narrowed but he didn’t pursue the question any further and asked something that been boggling him ever since he’d heard Kai saying it. “Then what about us? I’m a spirit, just like you. Why did you try to kill me when we are the same?”

“What are you talking about?” Kai frowned and gave Madara a strange look.. “We’re nothing alike. You and me are totally different. And besides, why wouldn’t I try to kill you? Simply because you’re a yokai as well?” 

Kai scoffed and leaned his weight on the wall. “Don’t get it confused, Fox. We might be spirits but that doesn’t mean you get any favoritism. I kill who I want. There is no exception.”

Madara said nothing and maintained a neutral facial expression, but inwardly he cursed at the younger man. For each question he’d asked, Kai had not only evaded but had casually slipped in small bits of his real reason for trying to murder nearly everything he came across. But it wasn’t enough. He needed more. He needed real answers.

“You’re not answering any of my questions, Kai.” Madara stopped beating around the bush and circled around to address the elephant in the room. “Why do you want to kill us? We did nothing to you. Not to mention, this was the first time you’ve seen us, so why? Why did you want to kill us so badly that you risked getting injured?”

Madara was no fool and had long caught onto the younger man’s strained stride, but had kept quiet and acted like never seen anything. 

Kai kept quiet and looked at Madara with his head tilted, his hand still wrapped gingerly around his waist. “I have no reason to tell you anything. I owe you nothing.”

Madara nearly growled in frustration. He turned to Kotoh instead when Kai absolutely refused to give in. “You’ve been oddly silent since we got here Kotoh.” He narrowed his eyes and eyed her suspiciously. “Do you know something?”

Kai turned his head slowly to face Kotoh, expecting his entire life story to be laid bare in front of a stranger but Kotoh copied his earlier response and said nothing. She uncrossed her arms and looked at Madara for a long, silent moment before shaking her head twice.

Madara wished he was in a better condition so he could threaten the truth out of the both of them but the current state he was in limited him to letting out a growl, saying clenched teeth, “Then why are we here? I thought we were supposed to talk about this one’s irrational murdering instincts but none of you are willing to talk.”

“There was no point of bringing him here with us if he’s not willing to tell the truth.” He glared at them both. “And neither is there a point to you being here when you refuse to answer my questions.” He glanced at Kotoh but she had already turned her head away.

“Then take me back.” Kai taunted Madara with an arrogant smirk on his lips. “If there’s no point in me being here, let me go. I’ll find my way back to my world on my own.”

Madara would have to be a complete simpleton to agree with any suggestion that left Kai’s lips. “I’m not so old to foolishly agree to that, you brat.”

Madara’s temper was slowly, gradually rising with each second he wasted in Kai’s presence. He feared the younger man could aggravate him to the point that he lost control of his powers, but Madara reminded himself of the millennials spent alone and had learned to keep his strength under control, even if he lost his temper.

* * *

“The previous Guardians were murdered.” Kotoh suddenly said, startling Madara from his increasingly rising temper and made him look at her. Kai also turned but he wasn’t as betrayed as he expected to be.

“Kai saw it all.” Kotoh continued and moved into a corner of the same wall Kai rested on, gaze still on Kai, but it occasionally drifted to Madara. “The reason he’s so against humans was because his entire family, the previous Guardians, were murdered by them.”

Madara couldn’t say he was shocked by the story. He had heard worse tales of humans brutally marching into peaceful villages and towns, cruelly slaughtering everything in their path. He’d even witnessed a few of them. He’d seen the few survivors sadistically spared fall into ruin and attempt revenge only to be coldly cut down. Madara had seen it all.

“How?” He asked, mildly curious.

“The Guardians were out checking the forest for any anomalies when a human, one with abilities like him only weaker, came across them.” She briefly glanced at Natsume and went on  with the story. “It was around the time for the second war.”

“You can imagine how a stranger, circling around the forest, looked to a soldier, beaten with the idea that any man or woman dressed in another color other than the one he wore was an enemy.”

Kotoh didn’t say it but Madara could fill in the blanks on his own. ‘ _The Guardian was killed on the spot.’_

“The sound alerted the other Guardians in the area and they came running but ultimately fell as well. The sound had also alerted the soldier’s companions and they too rushed over only to repeat the same mistake as the first soldier, and all the Guardians were killed right there.”

Madara felt a twinge of sympathy towards Kai but he held it back, fearing it was misguided. He interrupted Kotoh mid-story to ask. “I don’t understand. You said Kai witnessed it all, but where was he? And how was he not discovered?”

“Kai had snuck out of our world and had followed after his childish eagerness to prove himself to his parents. He had hidden behind a thick cover of trees and small bushes. The smell had managed to conceal him from his parents and also from the soldiers.”

“He hadn’t been far from the scene and had witnessed his parents, and their friends get killed before him.”

Kotoh glanced at Madara. “You can imagine how a child, barely a decade old, could have felt watching his parents get killed in front of his eyes while he was safely hidden, unable to do anything but watch.”

Madara nodded. “He was frozen.”

“Yes. The soldiers eventually moved on after making sure the Guardians were all dead and the rest is history.”

“Are you done talking about me like I’m not even here?” Kai casually said but his voice was tight, whether from the story or from annoyance, Madara couldn’t tell.

“Yes, that is my entire sob story in all its glory.” He snapped sarcastically and sat up straight. “My parents were killed in front of me and I went into a downward spiral of anger, revenge and pain, killing everything I could and eventually I was locked up in a small section of our world, unable to escape for a handful of years.”

Madra ignored his sarcasm and focused on something that had been nagging at the back of his head ever since Kotoh told him the story behind Kai’s behavior. 

“I understand your parents were murdered in front of you, and that must have left a tremendous scar on you as a child, but you do understand that not all humans are like the ones that killed your parents, right?”

“You do understand that the war has long since passed and people have changed from what they were before, right?”

Kai nodded once but it wasn’t the response Madara wanted to hear.

“You say you understand but do you really?” Madara drew himself up to as much of an upright position as he could manage and continued with his original sentence. “You have this fixation on killing either me, Natsume or Tanuma, even though we have nothing to do with the slaughtering of your people, or you."

“You blatantly attacked Tanuma without reason, on the grounds that he was a bother to look at. You attacked Natsume and nearly killed him because he stood up to you and nearly killed me because I defended him.”

“You can’t expect me to believe you know the difference between those soldiers and the children sleeping behind me when you can’t even own up to the fact that you nearly did the same thing as those soldiers and murdered two innocent children who had no part in whatever revenge story you’re trying to re-enact.”

“So, I ask once again, do you really understand that those soldiers, the same ones from the second war, that happened nearly eight decades ago, are nothing like the humans inhibiting this planet, right now?”

Madara waited for Kai’s answer but before he could get it, he heard groaning behind him and rolled over to check on Natsume.

“Are you okay, Natsume?” Madara tried not to act worried in front of the two Guardians but the fussing he high-key did when he thought no one was paying attention sold him out. “Does anything hurt?”

Natsume groaned again and Madara backed off, thinking it was just a dream, when the boy’s eyes shot open.

“They’re dying. All of them, they’re dying and there’s nothing we can do.” He mumbled out, but they all heard him clearly as if he was yelling. “It’s painful. So painful. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop.”

His voice grew more desperate and higher as he repeated those three words. Madara glanced behind him for some sort of assistance but the two were just as, if not more, clueless.

“What’s painful, Natsume? What do we have to stop?” Madara tentatively questioned, peering down at the young male.

“Them. They’re getting closer. They’ll kill everything. Stop them. Stop them, before it’s too late.” Natsume fell abck to sleep as if he’d never said anyhting, leaving the three spirits, confused and more cautious than they’d been at the beginning.

“What does that mean? Hey!” Kai yelled but no one gave him the time of day.

“Was that a premonition?” Kotoh moved form the wall and creeped towards Natsume, stopping when she was roughly five feet apart.

“I don’t know. It sounded like one.”

“It sounded like he was reciting words written out to him. Or like he was retelling a story from the past.”

“I don’t know. That’s the first time something like that has ever happened to him. I’ve never seen it before.”

Kotoh kept silent for a second, trying to think of a solution. She settled for, “Let’s leave him to rest. We can ask him when he wakes up and is fully coherent.”

Madara agreed and moved to where Natusme’s legs were and crawled on top, turning around for a few seconds before settling down with his paws acting as a cushion.

“You’re going to sleep in that state?” Kotoh pointed to the faded bruises and dried cuts on Madara’s fur. 

“Is that a problem?” Madara cocked a brow, or would have if he had any distinctive brows, and looked at Kotoh through a slit eye.

“No.” Kotoh shook her head once and went back to her corner, wondering why she had bothered to care about Madara’s injuries. “Get some rest, Kai.” Her voice became colder than the ice in the North Pole unlike warm neutrality it was a second ago. “You’ll need it.”

Kai grumbled, unwilling to follow his seniors orders, but did so anyway. He folded himself into a ball, careful of injured parts and tried to force himself into slumber. Kotoh waited till the man was asleep before also closing her eyes and taking the opportunity to rest after the tiresome days they’d all been through, oblivious to the troubles that faced them the following morning.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really have to stop updating at such late times i know. But this chapter is so short compared to the rest but this is mainly because the next chapter is meant to be really long and is the build up to the climax. This story is also nearing the end and will be wrapped up in less than ten chapters. i won't give an exact date on their updates or end because i get writer's block easily and i was undergoing one (and still am) as i was writing this, but counting ten chapters from now, this story is coming to an end. thank you for all your support and please continue to read it even though i lack alot in my writing skills and plot development, i will work harder and try to write something interesting and appealing to you all. I seriously love you all and thank you for all your support!

He turned to find Natsume, blanket to his chin, and a wet cloth on his forehead and Madara sleeping on the dip between Natsume’s thighs and calves. Meanwhile, Kotoh was resting in a corner, and Kai had his head against the wall.

Kaname remembered the previous night and how he’d carried Natsume and lowered his temperature before taking a second to rest his eyes only to fall asleep. He silently stood up and tip-toed out of the room, careful not to knock the cold bucket of water down as he bent down and took it.

Kaname exited the room and went to change the water and decided to begin with breakfast. He was still a few hours early but Kaname wanted to rest for a bit longer before he absolutely had to begin working.

He made simple but plentiful breakfast and covered it neatly before storing them each in the fridge and returning to the room with three more blankets. He may have been angry at Kai for putting Natsume in danger, and at Kotoh for dragging him into such a world, but he couldn’t stand to see them sleep, uncovered, during the cold season.

Kaname silently covered each spirit before returning to his original spot and making himself to be more comfortable than before. In a matter of seconds, Kaname was asleep again.

* * *

The second person to wake up after that was Natsume, and unlike Kaname, Natsume woke up because he was too hot, unlike Kaname who was freezing, Natsume felt like he was left to slowly,  agonizingly cook in an oven. He moved and removed one of the thick blanket placed on top to help him heat his body, and consequently, flush out the virus infecting him.

His movement, however, was hindered by Madara resting on his lap.

Madara groaned and Natsume prayed the cat would go back to sleep  He did so after a few seconds and Natsume sighed in relief. He tried worming his way out but Madra refused to wake up and Natsume wasn’t in the mood to be fussed over.

He lied down again, sighing heavily and reluctantly taking the blanket he’d thrown to the side, he covered his body again and tried falling asleep again. This attempt, however, was hindered when Kai suddenly spoke up.

“You said some weird things when you were asleep.” Kai didn’t turn or acknowledge Natsume and continued looking like he was asleep, except he obviously wasn’t.

Natsume shot up, careful of Madara, and looked at Kai. His heart was beating wildly in his chest but Natsume tried to calm down and respond to Kai’s odd statement.

“What are you talking about?” 

“Yesterday, when you were asleep, you began mumbling about it being painful and that someone was coming. You also said that people were dying, all of them, and that we should make it stop.”

Natsume’s eyes widened to comical proportions. He didn’t remember a single thing from yesterday after he collapsed. He couldn’t believe that he could have said that himself, and turned to Kai, doubt clear in his voice.

“You’re lying. There’s no way I would have said something like that.”

Kai rolled his eyes but Natsume failed to see it and rolled onto his side with his back facing the young teenager. “Believe what you want to believe, kid. It really doesn’t matter to me if you believe me or not, but you did say that people were dying and that we have to stop them.”

“Even if I do believe you and I did say that, what does it even mean?” Natsume asked out loud and Kai shrugged in response.

“How would I know what you were dreaming about?” Kai retorted and shifted on the spot. “I just know you were sputtering some weird things when you fell asleep, almost like you were possessed.”

Natsume kept quiet and tried recalling the dream. He couldn’t remember anything but the more he tried, the more he felt like something was coming back to him. He couldn’t be sure if it was the dream or a memory or thought he’d forgotten a week ago but he continued trying to remember till he gave himself a headache and had to stop.

He looked over at Kaname’s sleeping body and was suddenly overcome with the urge to apologize. The male had only wanted to help him, despite his disputes, and now he had two ancient spirits sleeping in his house, a sick teenage boy, and a heavily injured cat. Not to mention, the injuries he himself beared through. 

Natsume remembered why he hadn’t wanted anyone to be involved in his hectic style of living because of the risk. The chances of success were always low as compared to the possibility of failure. Half the time, whenever a spirit came up to him or sneaked into his bedroom, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever make it back alive.

He knew Madara was there for him and would always try to save him and keep him out of harm’s way at a moments notice, but Natsume wondered, what would happen if, one day, Madara couldn’t make it in time or if he was a second late. He wondered if that would be the day he died, and feared for the people he left behind, specifically the elderly couple he lived with and the few people who considered him a friend.

He was especially worried for Kaname. Out of everyone the other male had met, Natsume knew he was the only one who could understand what he would occasionally see, hear and feel. He feared how the male would cope if one day he ended up not coming back home. He wondered who Kaname would talk to, who would understand him the way he did. 

Natsume felt a heavy feeling settle in his gut when he thought of Kaname interacting with someone else and telling them about the things only he could understand and relate to. He shifted thinking it was Madara but remembered Madara was sleeping on his lap and not on his stomach.

Kaname stirred in his sleep and turned over so that his face was now facing Natsume. Natsume turned his head to look at Kaname and took a brief second to admire how he looked. He could see the lines on his face, visible now that he was asleep and lacked the strength to contour his face into something resembling calm and neutral. 

Natsume felt even worse when he saw the exhausted way Kaname looked. He saw the dirt and grime on his face after a hellish day and reached out to touch the side of his face, gently so as to not wake him. Natsume feared Kai was still awake and listening to his every movement and mouthed out an apology towards Kaname instead of what he’d originally wanted to do.

“I’m so sorry, Kaname. I never intended for it to get this bad.” Natsume unconsciously spoke out-loud and cringed as his memory chose to flash back through the day’s events. It even went back to their first time in the Guardian world, describing in vivid detail how Kaname suffered and suffered again today. 

Natsume knew there was no way he could get Kaname to leave him or to protect him from getting hurt but it didn’t hold him back from wishing. He wished he had more, much more power and strength than he did now, to protect not only Kaname but his friends and family.

“I promise, it’ll be over soon, Kaname.” Natsume whispered and pulled his hand away from Kaname’s face. He left it at his side and looked back at the ceiling, steeling himself for what he knew was coming. Natsume gritted his teeth and shut his eyes, forcefully returning his body into slumber and going to revisit the one dream he could not remember.


End file.
